How important is the cabinet in the executive branch of government?

There is a large debate as to how important the cabinet is within the executive branch of US government. It can be compared and contrasted to that of the British government, where there are three key differences; the PM is head of the collective executive, whereas the president is the head if a singular executive. Secondly, the PM is head of the executive only because he commands the support of his party; on the other hand, the President is elected directly into the oval office.

Finally, almost all of the UK’s political decisions are taken within cabinet, but the US’s decisions are rarely taken by the cabinet, and more by a few chosen advisers such as EXOP. The growth of many other powerful organisations within the executive is due to the growth of this branch beyond the vision of the FF’s and because Presidents have not found the cabinet to be a useful and efficient decision making body.

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There are a number of factors that undermine the importance of the cabinet.

The cabinet is meant of reflect America as a nation, and thus will need representatives from each geographical region from NY to Hawaii, male and female. This reduces the presidential flexibility in making appointments and inevitably forced the president to choose people from outside the circle of his most trusted advisors. Furthermore, many of the most ‘highly qualified’ citizens for the job in cabinet are reluctant to take up the position simply as it does not benefit them and even hiders them.

For example, businessmen would not take the job as it would require a huge reduction in wages, also a congressmen or senator would have to take up a less secure four year post. Almost anyone who takes the job would receive a lot of public scrutiny which some feel intrudes too far into their private lives. These factors contribute to the undermining of the cabinet as the president and even the people may believe that the people running the county aren’t best suited for the job.

Finally, there is a tendency for the cabinet members to ‘go native’ and represent their departments interest rather than the presidents interests: at times of international crisis, for example, the secretary of state is likely to argue for a diplomatic solution while the secretary of defence is likely to argue for a military solution, this can cause many problems and arguments in the cabinet, with the cabinet rather than come to a conclusion together a decision will have to be made for one or the other. On the other hand, the cabinet can be seen is very important and has many advantages.

Firstly, the cabinet shows that it is in touch with the public, and is representative of the nation as a whole rather than certain parts; this is done by having representatives from all sectors of American society and thus creates an image of a government that understands and can relate to all sectors of American society. Furthermore, cabinet meetings are always accompanied with the chance of a photo which counters the sense of most key decisions being taken by a small unrepresentative and unelected group of advisors who have never been subject to senate ratification; this in turn creates an image of open collective government. Read about strengths and weaknesses of the three branches of government

Finally, the cabinet embodies the presidential platform, this means it is an understudy to the president without being less important and it is always there to help and guide the president though policy decisions. For example; the Clinton cabinet represented the campaign theme of inclusivity and for George W. Bush the cabinet represented his campaign theme of compassionate conservatism. In conclusion, I believe that although the cabinet as a collective body does not catty a great deal of responsibility often, the individual ‘top tier’ cabinet members for example those of ‘defence or justice’ are extremely important and influential.