Definitions
The same words for every country
Governments name their offices in many ways. These are the rules Govpedia follows, so that a cabinet in one country can be compared with a cabinet in another.
Head of state
The person who holds the highest office of the state under its constitution: a monarch, a president, or a collective body such as a federal council. A governor-general is recorded as the monarch’s representative, not as head of state.
Head of government
The person who leads the executive: usually a prime minister, or the president where the president leads the government. When one person holds both offices, the record says so once.
Government
The executive in office, under the name it is commonly known by, for example the name of its leader. Its start date is the day it took office. A caretaker government is recorded as the government until the next one takes office.
Cabinet member
A cabinet member is a person who sits in the national cabinet or council of ministers, as the government itself lists it.
- Ministers who lead a ministry or hold a full cabinet post are counted.
- Ministers of state, deputy ministers, vice-ministers and secretaries of state are not counted, unless the government lists them as full members of the cabinet.
- The head of government is counted. The head of state is counted only where they chair the cabinet as a member of it.
- A person who holds two portfolios is one seat. A vacant post is not a seat, and the record notes it.
So the cabinet size in Govpedia is the number of people in the cabinet, not the number of ministries.
Titles and dates
Titles follow the official wording. Where the original is not in English, Govpedia gives an English translation and says so in the record’s note. Dates are the day of appointment or swearing-in, as the source gives it.
Contested authority
Where rival authorities claim the same state, or power is held without constitutional recognition, the offices are marked disputed. The note says who exercises power in practice and what the recognised position is. Govpedia records the facts and takes no position.
Coverage of a record
Every country carries one of three labels, so you can see how complete its record is before you rely on it.
Heads of state and government and the full cabinet are recorded, each with a source.
Some cabinet seats are missing because no current source names them. The record's note lists the gaps.
The government has changed or is about to, or the last check is old, so the record may be out of date.
A record also turns to needs review on its own when its last check is more than 90 days old. Coverage says how complete a record is. How well each statement is confirmed is shown by its own status.