Cabinet of the Caldan Union
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The Cabinet of the Caldan Union is a body of Ministers of the Crown that, in accordance with the Constitution and along with the Sovereign, forms the government of the Union. Legally speaking, the Cabinet is a committee of the Queen's Privy Council. At one time, it also constituted the senior level of the Ministry. However, ever since the second government of Minerva Karamanlis, the Cabinet and the Ministry have been co-terminal. The Cabinet is also often referred to as the Government, though this term might also be used to refer to all federal state institutions and Members of Parliament and Senators belonging to the political party forming the government are referred to as Government MPs or Government Senators. The term Administration is used largely synonymously but generally includes senior political advisers, though not the nonpartisan Civil Service. A given Cabinet is referred to by the name of the current Prime Minister. Hence, the current Cabinet, led by Prime Minister James Calvert, is referred to as the Calvert Cabinet, the Calvert Government, the Calvert Administration or the Calvert Ministry. While technically and historically distinct, the four terms are nearly identical in modern Caldan usage.
Composition
Queen-in-Council=
The Government of the Caldan Union, referred to domestically as Her Majesty's Government, is constitutionally defined as the Queen acting on the advice of her Privy Council. This is what is known as the Queen-in-Council. The Privy Council consists of all current or former Cabinet ministers, current and former Leaders of the Opposition, current and former [[Wikipedia:Speaker (politics}|Speakers of the House of Representatives]], current and former Presidents of the Senate, current and former justices of the Supreme Court, current and former provincial governors, current and former provincial premiers, current and former Chiefs of the Defence Staff, members of the royal family over the age of 21, current and former presidents of the College of Peers, current and former Lord Chamberlains of the Household, current and former leaders of sizable third parties, and current and former members of the Caldan Security and Intelligence Review Agency. Except for certainly largely ceremonial occasions, the entire Privy Council rarely meets. Instead, responsible government requires that the Queen receive constitutional advice from those ministers who currently enjoy the confidence of the House of Representatives. Thus, the Cabinet is the Committee of the Privy Council which actually advises the Queen.
It is the responsibility of the Queen to appoint a prime minister to lead the government, one capable of enjoying the confidence of the House of Representatives. Where a party or coalition holds a clear majority, this will always be their leader. However, when there is a hung parliament, with no sign of a coalition agreement, the Queen must exercise her judgment. The prime minister is the head of the Cabinet and may appoint its members from among current MPs and Senators, generally the leading members of the prime minister's party. The Queen also accepts the resignation of a departing prime minister and swears in all ministers.