Kitchen cabinet

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Kitchen cabinet is an expression for a permanent, unofficial circle of close confidants around a person in a high position of power; in the narrower sense of a head of government. It is slightly derogatory in that it linguistically contrasts the constitutional cabinet (as the entirety of the ministers of a government) with the kitchen cabinet as the actual center of power not provided for in the constitution. All German Chancellors use (t) this informal advisory circle.

Origin of the term

The term is borrowed from the English where Kitchen Cabinet first appeared in the United States under the presidency of Andrew Jackson . In 1831, after the petticoat affair, he restructured his cabinet , but at the same time added a circle of confidants, only one of whom, Roger B. Taney , belonged to the official cabinet. The term was first publicized when, on March 13, 1832, US Senator George Poindexter wrote in an article in the Telegraph about his vote against the appointment of kitchen cabinet member Martin Van Buren as ambassador to England that Jackson's advisory council was commonplace known as the Kitchen Cabinet .

The term is widespread in the English-speaking world to this day, especially for the semi-official and unofficial advisory groups of US presidents and British prime ministers .

features

A group of advisors, known in German as a kitchen cabinet, is usually characterized by a few features:

  • Selection by the decision maker : The members are determined by the decision maker who forms the advisory group around him. Often a previously less dominant discussion group develops over time into a kitchen cabinet as the closest advisory body to the decision maker.
  • Openness and confidentiality : If the participants in the kitchen cabinet show absolute mutual trust, especially with regard to the confidentiality of the spoken word, thoughts can be formulated there much more openly and without taking into account political interests or official language regulations.
  • General horizon : a kitchen cabinet is usually not limited to a specific policy area.
  • Spatial proximity to the decision-maker : so that a kitchen cabinet can meet ad hoc if necessary, the members are often part of the decision-maker's closest working environment.

The open discussion atmosphere often makes it easier for the decision-maker and, if necessary, other important people belonging to the kitchen cabinet to discuss views and to form firm, often shared opinions. As a result, important (political) decisions may be made or prejudiced in this confidential body.

Ultimately, the public status of a certain group of advisors as a kitchen cabinet is usually named that way by outsiders.

Historical examples

In the public eye, Helmut Kohl's personal advisory group around his decades-long office manager Juliane Weber was often referred to as the kitchen cabinet.

See also

literature

  • Kay Müller, Franz Walter (Ed.): Gray Eminences of Power Kitchen Cabinets in the German Chancellor Democracy. From Adenauer to Schröder. Wiesbaden 2004, ISBN 978-3-531-14348-4 .

swell

  1. http://www.rezensions.ch/buchbessprechungen/graue_eminenz_der_macht/3531143484.html
  2. http://www.rezensions.ch/buchbessprechungen/graue_eminenz_der_macht/3531143484.html
  3. welt.de: "Juliane Weber - the witness from Kohl's 'kitchen cabinet'"
  4. Der Spiegel: 24/1986, pp. 24-27: "The Chancellor wishes it that way"