COMPARATIVE STUDY OF THE BRITISH AND THE USA

CABINET

Comparative Public Law

FACULTY IN CHARGE
Dr. Shiva Satish Sharda
(Assistant Professor of Law)

SUBMITTED BY-

Sanjeev Brar

(21566)

(LL.M. 1st semester)

Rajiv Gandhi National University of Law, Punjab

 TABLE OF CONTENTS

CONTENTS:

1. Abstract

2. Overview

3. Understanding the Cabinet System

4. Comparative Analysis of the UK and the US Cabinet

5. Conclusion

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 ABSTRACT

The research on the topic ‘A Comparative Study of the British and the USA Cabinet’ deals with
a comparison of the Cabinet of the USA and that of the Britain. A Cabinet is a body of high
ranking government officials customarily consisting of the top leaders of the executive branch.
They are normally called ministers but in some countries are sometimes called secretaries. The
functions of a cabinet may vary from country to country, in some countries it is a cumulative
decision making and a collectively responsible body while in some countries it is just an
advisory body to the head of the state or government. Cabinet is responsible for the day to day
management of the state machinery, while the executive and the judiciary work in sessions. In
certain nations, particularly those with a parliamentary system (e.g., the United Kingdom), the
Cabinet decides on the government's direction collectively, particularly when it comes to
legislation enacted by parliament. In nations with a presidential system, such as the United
States, the Cabinet serves primarily as a formal advisory council to the head of government,
rather than as a collective legislative influence.
The research paper starts with the British Cabinet which covers the history of the establishment
of the British Cabinet, its constitutional validity, its composition, its functions and the present
day British Cabinet composition, functions and importance.
The next part deals with the USA Cabinet which includes the following subtopics such as the
historical background of the US Cabinet, its provision in the constitution of the US for its
establishment, its establishment procedure, its composition, its functions and the present day US
Cabinet composition, functions and importance.
After the separate study of both the cabinets the third part of the research consists of a
comparative study of both, the British and the US Cabinet, a comparative criticism of both the
cabinets. It will be a comparison from history of the cabinets to their composition, functions,
powers and the current world scenario and importance.
The project will end with a conclusion made on the basis of the study, done through the data
collected from internet sources like different articles and official websites of the UK i.e.
www.gov.uk and the US i.e. www.usa.gov

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 OVERVIEW

A Cabinet is body of high ranking government officials who are responsible for the
government decision making, advisory body for the head of the state or head of the
government and in some countries, an authority to decide the day to day functioning of the
state while the judiciary and the legislature work for a fixed time and sessions as per the
procedures mentioned in the constitution. Thus, a Cabinet has varied functions in different
jurisdictions i.e. in some cases it is just a purely advisory body to the head of the state and in
other countries it is a collective decision making body for the state having collective
responsibility for the state functions.
In some countries specially having Parliamentary System of Government such as UK, the
cabinet is a collective decision making body which collectively decides the work or directions
of the government for the legislations passed by the parliament. In countries with a presidential
form of government such as US, the cabinet is not a collective decision making functionary
rather an advisory council for the president whose primary function is to advise the president
and giving opinions for decision making.
Basically the Cabinet’s function is to advise the head, the difference is whether the head of the
state considers it or not, i.e. in parliamentary form of government the monarch or the president
will almost always follow the advice and in the presidential form of government, the president
can reject to follow the advice if he does not agree with it.
The second function of the Cabinet is to administer the executive branch government agencies
or departments. The Cabinet and its ministers also play an important role in framing the
legislations which are later passed by the parliament.
In United Kingdom and its colonies, the cabinets began as smaller sub groups of the English
Privy Council in the 17th and early 18th century. After the Reform Bill of 1832 was passed, two
basic principles of cabinet system became clear: that the cabinet must be composed of the
members chosen from the majority party in the House of Commons and that the cabinet’s
members are collectively responsible to the House of Commons for their conduct in
Government. The Cabinet may seem to be the center of government decision-making. It is
made up of roughly 22 or 24 senior ministers who are nominated by the Prime Minister to lead
the major government ministries.
The cabinet in the USA is established by Article II, Section 2 of the Constitution of the USA.
It is usually referred as the President’s Cabinet or just the Cabinet. The Cabinet is an advisory
body whose function is to guide the President in matters in which he requires. The Vice
President and the heads of 15 Executive Departments compose the cabinet in US. In the United

4
States of America the ‘Heads of Departments’ are called members of the President’s Cabinet.
All the members of the Cabinet except the head of the Justice Department have been given the
title of ‘Secretary’. President nominates the members of Cabinet and appointed upon
confirmation by senate with a simple majority. Members of the Cabinet, except the Vice
President serve at the pleasure of the President, who can dismiss them for no cause and at his
own will. The term ‘Cabinet’ is nowhere mentioned in the US Constitution, it works on the
basis of customs and traditions of the United States of America.
This research gives a comparison of the UK and the US Cabinet. The first chapter deals with
the understanding of the Cabinet System both in the UK and the US. The second chapter
comprises of the comparative analysis of the cabinets of both the countries under various sub
headings such as Role of Cabinet, Role of the Head of the State of both the countries in the
Cabinet system and present day cabinets of both the countries.

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 1. UNDERSTANDING THE CABINET SYSTEM

The Cabinet is the body of officials who are drawn from the Majority Party or the Majority
Coalition in the Legislature. A Cabinet is comprised of ministers who are supposed to be in the
position for government decision making. It is the supreme directing authority which controls and
coordinates the whole Executive body of the Union Government and guides the work of the
Parliament. Cabinet System draws its origin from the Great Britain. The Cabinet developed from
the Privy Council in the 17th and early 18th centuries when that body grew too large to manage the
state affairs effectively alone. The English monarchs Charles II (reigned 1600-1685) an Anne
(1702-1714) started consulting the members of the Privy Council in order to each decision before
meeting with the whole council. In the reign of Anne, the weekly and sometimes daily meetings of
this council became an accepted mechanism of government functioning and the Privy Council’s
power were in unavoidable decline. After George I (1714–27), who spoke little English, ceased to
attend meetings with the committee in 1717, the decision-making process within that body, or
cabinet, as it is now known, gradually became concentrated on a head, or prime, minister. This
office started emerging in the long period of chief ministry of (1721-1742) Sir Robert Walpole and
was later properly established by Sir William Pitt.1

The functions and nature of the Cabinet varies largely in different countries. In the context of UK,
which has a Parliamentary form of government, the cabinet is a collective decision making body
which collectively escorts the work or directions of the government for the legislations passed by
the parliament. Cabinet meetings are usually held in the Cabinet Room of 10 Downing Street, the
official residence of the PM. The Cabinet appears to be the main point or the focus in decision
making of the British Government machinery. It comprises a group of high ranking officials or
ministers appointed by the Prime Minister to head the various important government departments.
The composition usually contains 22 to 24 members in total, heading different departments. As
Bagehot says, it was a combining committee: ‘a hyphen which joins, a buckle which fosters the
legislature to the executive. It forms the part of the one by its origin and a part of the other by its
functions. The Prime Minister has an increasing control over the cabinet, from deciding the
composition and decisions regarding choosing the committee heads to the removal of the
inefficient ministers. It is important to note that only a Prime Minister can call a Cabinet meeting.2

The Article II, Section 2 of the constitution of USA has a provision for the establishment of the US
Cabinet. Generally, we refer to it as the President’s Cabinet or just the Cabinet. In a
Presidential

6
1
‘Cabinet’, https://www.britannica.com/topic/cabinet-government accessed 21 April, 2018
2
Peter Leyland, A Constitution of the United Kingdom (First Published in 2007 Hart Publishing 2016) 160,161

7
form of government having country UK, the cabinet has ‘an advisory body’ role to play. The
composition of Cabinet is s such: a Vice President and 15 heads of executive departments. These
Departments are: the Secretaries of Agriculture, Commerce, Defence, Education, Energy, Health
and Human Services, Homeland Security, Housing and Urban Development, Interior, Labour,
State, Transportation, Treasury, and Veterans Affairs, as well as the Attorney General. All the
members of the cabinet except the head of the Justice Department are known by the title
‘Secretary’. The head of the Justice is given the title of ‘Attorney General’. The President
nominates the members of the cabinet who are later appointed on the confirmation by the senate by
a simple majority. Cabinet appointments are for the duration of the government, but the president
can dismiss any secretary according to his will, without being approved by the senate. In addition
to running a major federal agency, the cabinet plays important part in the Presidential line of
succession after the Vice President, Speaker of the House and Senate President pro tempore, the
line of succession continues with the Cabinet offices in the order in which the departments were
created.3

3
‘The Executive Branch’ < https://obamawhitehouse.archives.gov/1600/executive-branch> accessed 21 April, 2018
8
 2. COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS OF THE UK AND THE US CABINET

2.1. ROLE OF THE CABINET:

The Cabinet in United Kingdom comprises of a group of high ranking officials appointed by the
Prime Minister to head the main Government departments and has between 22 to 24 members. The
cabinet is a connecting link between the executive and the legislature at different places. At one
point it is a part of the executive as it is the body appointed by the Prime Minister to head the
various executive departments in the government functionary and on the other hand it plays an
important part of the legislature by helping the Prime Minister to take major government decisions
which are later considered and if found appropriate are passed as bills and acts by the legislature.
Major policy issues are often a matter of discussion at the cabinet meetings and conflicts of and
between various governments departments are also solved at the cabinet table, but the final
decisions may be taken in one of the many cabinet committees which specialise in the various
policy areas. It is generally observed that there is an increasing level of control of the Prime
Minister over the cabinet. A Prime Minister is the one who decides the composition of the cabinet
and chooses the heads of the various committees also the removal of any head of any committee is
in the hands of the Prime Minister.4
Some of the other functions to be performed by the cabinet in the British government mechanism
are as follows:
1. The parliament is a decisive and a policy formulating body which discusses and decides all
kinds of national and international issues.
2. The cabinet also has the legislative functions; the Cabinet by virtue of its enjoying a majority
in the House of Commons can get the bills passed in the Parliament as it can order the
Parliament to work in a particular way.
3. One essential function of the Cabinet is to coordinate and direct the functions of the various
departments of government.
4. The Cabinet has the responsibility for the total expenditure of the State and for deriving
required revenues to meet it. The Cabinet decides as to what taxes will be imposed, how will
these be collected and in what way these will be spent.

The Cabinet in the United States of America comprises of various departments. Under the
President and the Vice President, there are 15 departments and various agencies which altogether
form the government. The Cabinet has the responsibility to form and administer law, enforce it and
perform various government services. There are a total of 15 departments in the US Cabinet:

4
Peter Leyland, A Constitution of the United Kingdom (First Published in 2007 Hart Publishing 2016) 160,161

9
 Department of Agriculture, Department of Commerce, Department of Defence, Department of
Education, Department of Energy, Department of Health and Human Services, Department of
Homeland Security, Department of Housing and Urban Development, Department of the Interior,
Department of Justice, Department of Labour, Department of State, Department of Transportation,
Department of the Treasury, Department of Veterans Affairs5. Each department is headed by a
head called the ‘Secretary’ who is appointed to that post by the president subject to senate
confirmation. The departmental Secretaries together form the President’s Cabinet, a group of
officials who assist the president on matters of decision making and responsibility. From time to
time as political circumstances and personal relations decide, heads of one or two minor
departments may become members of what is called as the ‘inner cabinet’ of major department
heads. The President chooses the cabinet members basically to deal with the political pressures,
among which is the pressure to administer the important departments effectively. In modern times
the President tries to select the cabinet in order to make it ‘look like America’, as President Clinton
puts, some level or degree of demographic representation is necessary.6
The Secretaries advise the President on every affair from educational policies to terrorist attacks to
the conservation of national resources to foreign issues. In addition to their advisory functions,
Cabinet ministers head their respective departments, making policies that govern each unit and
managing programs that each department controls.
The Secretaries not only advice the President in affairs related to national security welfare, but
they also are the successors to the presidency in case the President is incapacitated in any way.
First to ascend to the presidency is the Vice President, followed by the Secretary of State, the
Secretary of the Treasury, and the Secretary of Defence. Next in succession, in order, are the
Secretaries of Justice, Interior, Agriculture, Commerce, Labour, Health and Human Services,
Housing and Urban Development, Transportation, Energy, Education, Veteran Affairs, and
Homeland Security.

2.2. ROLE OF THE HEAD OF THE STATE IN THE UK AND THE USA:
The UK Cabinet which comprises of the heads of various executive departments are appointed by
the Prime Minister to head the main government departments and has between 22 and 24
members. The Prime Minister has an increasing control and dominance in the functioning of the
Cabinet. It is the Prime Minister who has the power to decide the composition Cabinet and the
responsibility for deciding that who will be heading or governing the various executive
departments. The PM presides over the most important committees and has the power to set the

5
Paul A Arnold, About America, How the United States is Governed ( Published by Jason L. Stern)
https://photos.state.gov/libraries/korea/49271/dwoa_122709/US_Governed.pdf accessed 21 April, 2018
6
Mark Tushnet, The Constitution of the United States of America (First Published in 2008 Hart Publishing 2013) 97
1
0
 agendas for the Cabinet meetings. Thus, the decisions of great importance may be reached by
cabinet committee and effectively kept within the PM’s inner group of associates and advisers
without letting any chance for discussion in the parliament. For example, the decision by the Attlee
Government (1945-51) to test the Britain’s atomic bomb. The fact that the Prime Minister has the
sole charge to appoint or dismiss any minister is the proof of his extreme control or power over the
UK Cabinet.
Collective responsibility further adds in the exercise of authority by the UK PM over the cabinet.
This constitutional convention develops from the need for a Prime Minister to present the
sovereign with a unified advice on government matters.7

Today, various ‘Heads of Departments’ are called the members of the president’s cabinet. They are
nominate by the President and confirmed by the Senate, which has a strong though not invariable
tradition of deferring to the President’s choice to which he or she wishes to serve. The President
selects the Cabinet ministers primarily to satisfy the political pressures, among which are the
pressures to administer the major government departments effectively. In modern times the
Presidents are trying to make the cabinet ‘look like America’, as President Clinton sums up that
some extent of demographic representation is necessary. Some departments are constituency
oriented such as the Departments of Agriculture and Veterans’ Affairs. The practice of reserving
one or two seats for important politicians is decreasing in recent times, because of the increasing
presidential domination of the political parties.
Another new form of presidential control over the Cabinet is what described by the Elana Kagan as
‘Presidential Administration’. The bureaucracy within the office of the President has grown
gradually in the later years of the twentieth century, giving that office the power to oversee the
functions of the cabinet departments and controlling them according to the White House policies.8

2.3. CURRENT CABINETS COMPOSITION OF THE UK AND THE US:

 The current Cabinet Secretaries in the United Kingdom are as follows:
Theresa May- Prime Minister, First Lord of the Treasury, Minister for the Civil Service
David Lidington- Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster, Minister for the Cabinet
Office Philip Hammond- Chancellor of the Exchequer
Amber Rudd- Secretary of State for the Home Department, Minister for Women and
Equalities Boris Johnson- Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs
David Davis- Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union

7
Peter Leyland, A Constitution of the United Kingdom (First Published in 2007 Hart Publishing 2016) 160,161,162
8
Mark Tushnet, The Constitution of the United States of America (First Published in 2008 Hart Publishing 2013) 97,98

11
Gavin Williamson- Secretary of State for Defence
David Gauke- Lord Chancellor and Secretary of State for Justice
Jeremy Hunt- Secretary of State for Health and Social Care
Greg Clark- Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy
Sajid Javid- Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government
Liam Fox- Secretary of State for International Trade and President of the Board of
Trade Damian Hinds- Secretary of State for Education
Michael Gove- Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
Chris Grayling- Secretary of State for Transport
Esther McVey- Secretary of State for Work and Pensions
Baroness Evans of Bowes Park- Leader of the House of Lords, Lord Privy Seal
David Mundell- Secretary of State for Scotland
Alun Cairns- Secretary of State for Wales
Karen Bradley- Secretary of State for Northern Ireland
Penny Mordaunt- Secretary of State for International Development
Matt Hancock- Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport
Brandon Lewis- Minister without Portfolio9
 The Current Cabinet Secretaries in the United States of America are as
follows: Vice President of the United States- Mike Pence
Department of State- Rex Tillerson
Department of the Treasury- Secretary Steve Mnuchin
Department of Defence- Secretary Jim Mattis
Department of Justice- Attorney General Jeff Sessions
Department of the Interior- Secretary Ryan Zinke
Department of Agriculture- Secretary Sonny Perdue
Department of Commerce-Secretary Wilbur Ross
Department of Labour- Secretary Alex Acosta
Department of Health and Human Services- Secretary Alex Azar
Department of Housing and Urban Development- Secretary Ben Carson
Department of Transportation- Secretary Elaine Chao
Department of Energy- Secretary Rick Perry
Department of Education- Secretary Betsy DeVos
Department of Veterans Affairs- Secretary Robert Wilkie
Department of Homeland Security- Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen

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https://www.gov.uk/government/ministers
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 3. FACTORS THAT MAKE BRITISH CABINET BETTER THAN US
CABINET

Individual ministerial accountability exists in the UK cabinet, which implies that government
ministers are accountable for their own actions and should resign if they fail to achieve
departmental standards. This is not available in the United States. The United Kingdom also
has collective ministerial responsibility, which means that Cabinet members are bound by
government decisions and must resign if they openly disagree. 1 The United States, once
again, lacks this capability. In general, the cabinet in the United States serves as a
consultative body, however in the United Kingdom, the cabinet has greater power to oppose
the Prime Minister. The American Cabinet is always the same size. There's one Vice
President and 15 heads, for a total of 16 persons. The size of the British Cabinet, on the other
hand, changes based on the Prime Minister's wishes. The American Cabinet meets whenever
needed, while the British Cabinet meets once a week. The President does not participate in
Cabinet meetings, but the Prime Minister does. The President of the United States may
appoint anybody to his Cabinet as long as they are authorized. However, they are not
permitted to serve in Congress. However, in the United Kingdom, they must be members of
Parliament. They must be elevated to peer status if they aren't already.2

1
https://www.thestudentroom.co.uk/showthread.php?t=6228904
2
https://www.funkidslive.com/learn/us-uk-slamdown/difference-us-cabinet-vs-uk-cabinet/
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 CONCLUSION

This research focused on the comparative analysis of the Cabinet Systems the United Kingdom
and the United States of America, the composition of the Cabinets of the two countries, the origin
of Cabinet system the importance or role in shaping the government, along with the composition of
current cabinets in the UK and the USA.
The main function of the Cabinet is to advice the head of the state and helps it in coming to
reliable decisions. Though this function of Cabinet differs in different countries according to the
type of government mechanism, for example, the United Kingdom, which has a Parliamentary
form of government the cabinet is a collective decision making body which collectively decides
the work or directions of the government for the legislations passed by the parliament. On the other
hand the countries following the Presidential System of government, the cabinet’s function is of an
advisory body to the President, whose primary aim is to advice the President on matters of
government machinery functionality and giving opinions for decision making.
In the U.S. there is even no mention of term ‘Cabinet’ in the constitution, the Cabinet in the U.S.
draw it authority from the customs and old traditions of the United States of America.
The cabinet system basically originated from the Britain and has spread to the other parts of the
world from over there. A Cabinet is drawn by the Head of the State from among the members of
the House of Commons constituting the members of the majority party.
The members of the Cabinet are known by the name ministers of cabinet in the UK and in US the
members of the cabinet are known by the title ‘Secretary’, except the head of the Justice
Department, who has been given the title ‘Attorney General’.
Thus the Cabinet is one of the most important functionary bodies of the government which plays
an important role in state functioning. Although the functions of the cabinet differ in the countries
of the UK and the USA but the basic remains the same i.e. to advice the head of the state whether
as a collective body or just as an advisory council.

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 BIBLIOGRAPHY

Books:
1. Peter Leyland, A Constitution of the United Kingdom (First Published in 2007 Hart Publishing
2016)
2. Mark Tushnet, The Constitution of the United States of America (First Published in 2008 Hart
Publishing 2013)

Other Web Sources:

1. https://www.gov.uk/government/ministers
2. www.usa.gov
3. Paul A Arnold, About America, How the United States is Governed ( Published by Jason L.
Stern) https://photos.state.gov/libraries/korea/49271/dwoa_122709/US_Governed.pdf
4. ‘The Executive Branch’ https://obamawhitehouse.archives.gov/1600/executive-branch
5. ‘Cabinet’, https://www.britannica.com/topic/cabinet-government

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