cabinet

In politics, the group of ministers holding a country's highest executive positions who decide government policy. In Britain the cabinet system originated under the Stuarts in the 17th century. Under William III it became customary for the king to select his ministers from the party with a parliamentary majority (having the most members of Parliament). The US cabinet, unlike the British, does not initiate legislation, and its members, appointed by the president, must not be members of Congress. The term was used in the USA from 1793.

The first British cabinet councils or subcommittees of the Privy Council undertook special tasks. When George I ceased to attend cabinet meetings in the early 18th century, the office of prime minister, not officially recognized until 1905, came into existence to provide a chair (Robert Walpole was the first). Cabinet members are chosen by the prime minister; policy is collective and the meetings are secret, minutes being taken by the secretary of the cabinet, a high civil servant. However, with the growth in importance of cabinet committees and policy advisors to assist the prime minister and key ministers, there has been criticism that the cabinet has now become largely a rubber-stamping body for decisions made elsewhere.