Question

What is meant by the term ‘cabinet’ _____.

Answer 1

Hint:It is an official government body consisting of 15-20 members. It is responsible for the day-to-day management of the government.

Complete answer:
A cabinet is an official government body consisting of high ranked officials of the state. The members of the cabinet are generally called Cabinet Ministers or Secretaries. It is the main body which is responsible for the day-to-day management of the government. It is usually a small body containing not more than 20 members.
In some countries (especially those with parliamentary form of government) the cabinet is the main directing force of the government. For e.g. most of the European countries, countries of the Indian subcontinent and The Caribbean countries.
In other countries with a Presidential system, the council does not function as a legislative influence. Rather, its primary role is of an official advisory council for the head of the government.
This stands as a major difference between a Presidential and a Parliamentary form of government. In a Presidential system, the political leader or the head of the government or the President can depart from the cabinet’s advice if they disagree with the cabinet. Whereas is a Parliamentary form of government the head or the President will always or almost always follow the advice from the Cabinet.
The additional roles of the Cabinet are to administer the other departments, government agencies and executive branches and originate new legislation. Usually the Cabinet ministers are in charge of preparing a proposed legislation before passing it to the Parliament.

Note:- In India, the Cabinet was not a part of the Indian governance and had not been mentioned in the original Constitution adopted in 1950.
- The cabinet was officially added in the Indian Constitution only in 1978 by the 44th Constitutional Amendment Act in Article 352.
- The Constitution of India, still does not describe the powers and functions of the Cabinet.