A cabinet is a group of people who are elected or appointed to govern or advise a government. In countries that have a parliamentary system of democracy, cabinet members are often ministers in charge of particular departments. This cabinet is part of the executive branch of a government, and its ultimate authority rests with the head of state, or the prime minister in the case of a Westminster system. In presidential systems of government, the cabinet can also be viewed as an advisory council to the president.
Cabinet deliberations are secret, and documents dealing with them are generally not released until a time after a particular cabinet disbands, depending on provisions of a nation’s freedom of information legislation. In most cases, the cabinet is a place for private and frank discussion, although the nature of these discussions is often highly political, and a prime minister or other leader may try to control this by ensuring that the contents of cabinet meetings are not leaked.
In the United States, for example, the Cabinet consists of the vice president and the heads of 15 executive departments, known as Secretaries. In addition, the president may appoint other officials with Cabinet-level rank, such as the Director of the Office of Management and Budget, or the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency. In addition to the cabinet, there are a number of other groups of important individuals who work closely with the President, including the heads of various agencies and non-Senate-confirmed members of the Executive Office of the President.