ABSTRACT
A cabinet is a small body of senior politicians responsible for directing the administration of a country which has the form of government known as cabinet government. Subgroups or committees often exist within a cabinet for the direction of specific affairs. An inner cabinet will typically consist of members responsible for the economy, home and foreign affairs, defence and justice, and a war cabinet of members responsible for departments directly involved or affected by a state of war in the country. In some countries, notably France, and in the Commission of the Eur-
opean Union, the term `cabinet' is also applied to the small group of politicians and civil servants who act as the personal advisers to a minister. A group of advisers to the head of the executive who are not members of the cabinet is sometimes known as the `kitchen cabinet': the term was apparently first applied to advisers of Andrew Jackson, US president from 1829±37, and more recently to confidants of the former British prime minister, Harold Wilson.
