Minister (government)
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A minister is a politician who heads a ministry,[1][2] making and implementing decisions on policies in conjunction with the other ministers. In some jurisdictions the head of government is also a minister and is designated the ‘prime minister’, ‘premier’, ‘chief minister’, ‘chancellor’ or other title.
In
In some jurisdictions—such as
Etymology
The term ’minister’ also is used in diplomacy, for a diplomat of the
The term minister comes from Middle English, deriving from the Old French word ministre, originally minister in Latin, meaning "servant, attendant", which itself was derived from the word 'minus' meaning "less".[6]
In jurisdictions that use the Westminster system of government—such as the United Kingdom and Australia—ministers or their equivalents are selected from the legislature, and usually from the political party that controls a majority in the lower house of the legislature. In jurisdictions with strict separation of powers—such as Belgium, Mexico, Netherlands, Philippines, and the United States—ministers cannot be members of the legislature, and a legislator chosen to become a minister must resign from the legislature.
Normally the leader of the
In the United Kingdom, a government minister does not have to be a member of either House of Parliament. In practice, however, convention is that ministers must be members of either the House of Commons or House of Lords in order to be accountable to Parliament. From time to time, Prime Ministers appoint non-parliamentarians as ministers. In recent years such ministers have been appointed to the House of Lords.[7]
Types of ministers and their name
Various countries form ministries as
- Lists of incumbentsgroups lists of ministers by country
Specific ministers include:
- Agriculture minister
- Commerce minister
- Communications minister
- Culture minister
- Defence minister
- Deputy prime minister
- Education minister
- Energy minister
- Environment minister
- Finance minister
- Foreign minister
- Housing minister
- Health minister
- Industry minister
- Interior minister
- Justice minister
- Labour minister
- Prime minister
- Public works minister
- Science minister
- Sports minister
- Tourism minister
- Transport minister
Some ministers may hold multiple portfolios and lead several ministries simultaneously, while multiple ministers with separate portfolios may oversee a single ministry, or may also share both ministerial and deputy-ministerial portfolios in different ministries. A cabinet minister can sometimes be in charge of no ministry at all, and is then known as a "minister without portfolio".
See also
Notes
- ^ Once a minister's position is vacant, the minister can be a member of parliament, in accordance with article 57 section 3 of the Dutch constitution.
References
- ^ "Minister". Oxford Dictionary. Archived from the original on November 19, 2017. Retrieved 17 June 2018.
- ^ "Minister". Collins Dictionary. Retrieved 17 June 2018.
- ^ "Grondwet". wetten.overheid.nl (in Dutch). Retrieved 2021-03-10.
- ^ a b "Real bridge-builder became Finland's first female government minister - thisisFINLAND". thisisFINLAND. 2017-09-29. Retrieved 2017-10-01.
- ISBN 978-952-222-724-9
- ^ The word Minister Definition, dictionary.com dictionaries
- ^ Maer, Lucinda (2017-09-04). "Ministers in the House of Lords".