Secretary of State or State Secretary is a commonly used title for a senior or mid-level post in Governments A government is the organization, or agency through which a political unit exercises its authority, controls and administers public policy, and directs and controls the actions of its members or subjects around the world. The role varies between countries, and in some cases there are multiple Secretaries of State in the Government.
In many countries, a Secretary of State is a mid-level post. It is usually a politically appointed position, although in some countries, such as Germany A region named Germania, inhabited by several Germanic peoples, has been known and documented before AD 100. Beginning in the 10th century, German territories formed a central part of the Holy Roman Empire, which lasted until 1806. During the 16th century, northern Germany became the centre of the Protestant Reformation. As a modern nation-state, and Sweden Sweden (pronounced /ˈswiːdən/ SWEE-dən, Swedish: Sverige pronounced [ˈsveːrijə] ( listen)), officially the Kingdom of Sweden (Swedish: Konungariket Sverige (help·info)), is a Nordic country on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. Sweden has land borders with Norway to the west and Finland to the northeast, and water borders with, it can be filled by a member of the executive bureaucracy (civil service) as a political appointment. In the Holy See The Holy See is the episcopal jurisdiction of the Catholic Church in Rome, in which its Bishop is commonly known as the Pope. It is the preeminent episcopal see of the Catholic Church, forming the central government of the Church. As such, diplomatically, and in other spheres the Holy See acts and speaks for the whole Catholic Church. It is also, there is one Secretary of State The Cardinal Secretary of State—officially Secretary of State of His Holiness The Pope—presides over the Vatican Secretariat of State, which is the oldest and most important dicastery of the Roman Curia. The Cardinal Secretary is regarded as being in charge of the political and diplomatic activities of the Holy See and is thus referred to as, who coordinates all the departments of the Roman Curia The Roman Curia is the administrative apparatus of the Holy See and the central governing body of the entire Catholic Church, together with the Pope. It coordinates and provides the necessary central organization for the correct functioning of the Church and the achievement of its goals (that is, equivalent to a Prime Minister A prime minister is the most senior minister of cabinet in the executive branch of government in a parliamentary system. In many systems, the prime minister selects and can dismiss other members of the cabinet, and allocates posts to members within the Government. In most systems, the prime minister is the presiding member and chairman of the). In the United Kingdom a Secretary of State In the United Kingdom, a Secretary of State is a Cabinet Minister in charge of a Government Department is a member of the Cabinet In the politics of the United Kingdom, the Cabinet is the collective decision-making body of Her Majesty's Government in the United Kingdom, composed of the Prime Minister and some 22 Cabinet Ministers, the most senior of the government ministers appointed by the Prime Minister The Prime Minister of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is the political leader of the United Kingdom and the Head of Her Majesty's Government. The Prime Minister and Cabinet are collectively accountable for their policies and actions to the Sovereign, to Parliament, to their political party, and ultimately to the electorate (that is, equivalent to a Minister A minister is a politician who holds significant public office in a national or regional government. Senior ministers are members of the cabinet). In the federal government of the United States of America The federal government of the United States is the central government entity established by the United States Constitution, which shares sovereignty over the United States of America with the governments of the individual U.S. states. For official purposes in U.S. courts, the government is sued as the United States of America, and is referred to, there is one Secretary of State The United States Secretary of State is the head of the United States Department of State, concerned with foreign affairs. The Secretary is a member of the Cabinet and the highest-ranking cabinet secretary both in line of succession and order of precedence. The current Secretary of State is Hillary Rodham Clinton, the 67th person, and third woman, the most senior political appointee responsible for foreign policy A country's foreign policy, called the international relations policy, consists of strategies chosen by the state to safeguard its national interests and to achieve its goals in international relations. The approaches are strategically employed to interact with other countries. In recent times, due to the deepening level of globalization and (that is, equivalent to a Foreign Minister A minister for foreign affairs, or foreign minister, is a cabinet minister who helps form the foreign policy of a sovereign state. The foreign minister is often regarded as the most senior ministerial position below that of the head of government . It is often granted to the deputy prime minister in coalition governments. In some nations, such as).
Argentina
The Secretary of State (Secretario de Estado) in Argentina The Argentine claims in Antarctica along with the Falkland Islands, South Georgia, and the South Sandwich Islands (administered by the United Kingdom) shown in light green (federal government) is a high official with the same rank of a Minister, who is responsible directly to the President. The position must be distinguished from a "Secretary", a lower position, responsible to a Minister.
The official responsible for foreign policy is called Minister of Foreign Affairs (Ministro de Relaciones Exteriores) or "Chancellor" (Canciller).
Belgium
As in France France is a founding member state of the European Union and is the largest one by area. France has been a major power for several centuries with strong cultural, economic, military and political influence in Europe and in the world. During the 17th and 18th centuries, France colonised great parts of North America; during the 19th and early 20th, a Secretary of State in Belgium Belgium (pronounced /ˈbɛldʒəm/ , BEL-jəm), officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a state in northwest Europe. It is a founding member of the European Union and hosts the EU's headquarters, as well as those of several other major international organizations such as NATO. Belgium covers an area of 30,528 square kilometres (11,787 sq mi), and it is a junior minister who is responsible to a minister or the Prime Minister. For example, Vincent Van Quickenborne was a Secretary of State charged with the simplification of the administration, and in this role he was accountable to the Prime Minister A prime minister is the most senior minister of cabinet in the executive branch of government in a parliamentary system. In many systems, the prime minister selects and can dismiss other members of the cabinet, and allocates posts to members within the Government. In most systems, the prime minister is the presiding member and chairman of the. Secretaries of state do not fall under the constitutional provision that there should be an equal number of Francophone and Dutch-speaking ministers (with the possible exception of the Prime Minister).
Canada
The Canadian Cabinet used to have a Secretary of State for External Affairs who acted as the country's Foreign Minister A minister for foreign affairs, or foreign minister, is a cabinet minister who helps form the foreign policy of a sovereign state. The foreign minister is often regarded as the most senior ministerial position below that of the head of government . It is often granted to the deputy prime minister in coalition governments. In some nations, such as, but this position was abolished in 1993 and a new position of Minister of Foreign Affairs was created. From 1867 to 1993 there was also a Secretary of State for Canada who was a Cabinet minister whose duties varied over time but who was responsible for the Department of Secretary of State until the position was abolished. From 1993, some junior ministers are styled Secretary of State, and assigned specific policy areas to assist Cabinet ministers. However, these junior ministers are not themselves members of Cabinet. A similar role is played by Ministers of State, however Ministers are members of the cabinet.
Estonia
The State Secretary (Riigisekretär) directs the State Chancellery. Its mission is to support the Government The Government of the Republic of Estonia exercises executive power pursuant to the Constitution and the laws of the Republic of Estonia. It is also known as the cabinet and the Prime Minister in policy drafting and implementation. It also supports any Ministers without portfolio A Minister without Portfolio is either a government minister with no specific responsibilities or a minister that does not head a particular ministry. The sinecure position is particularly common in countries ruled by coalition governments and a cabinet with decision making authority wherein a minister without portfolio, while he or she may not and helps to ensure good governance. Before the Soviet re-occupation The occupation of the Baltic states was the military occupation of the three Baltic states: Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania by the Soviet Union under the auspices of the Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact on 14 June 1940 followed by their forcible incorporation into the USSR as constituent republics, as well as subsequent occupation of the Baltic republics in 1944 Year 1944 was a leap year starting on Saturday (link will display full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. Many of the events that happened in the year were related to World War II, the State Secretary went into exile The Estonian Government in Exile refers to the formally declared governmental authority of the Republic of Estonia in exile, existing from 1953 until the reestablishment of Estonian sovereignty over Estonian territory in 1992. It traced its legitimacy through constitutional succession to the last Estonian government in power prior to the Soviet until the position came back to Estonia Estonia [esˈtəʊnɪə] / (AmE) [esˈtoʊnɪə] (help·info) (Estonian: Eesti), officially the Republic of Estonia (Estonian: Eesti Vabariik), is a state in the Baltic Region of Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by the Gulf of Finland, to the west by the Baltic Sea, to the south by Latvia (343 km), and to the east by the Russian in 1992 1992 was a leap year that started on a Wednesday. In the Gregorian calendar, it was the 1992nd year of the Common Era, or of Anno Domini; the 992nd year of the 2nd millennium; the 92nd year of the 20th century; and the 3rd of the 1990s. [1]
Finland
A Secretary of State, valtiosihteeri, is the highest official below each minister. Ministers, who lead ministries (government departments), comprise the Finnish Council of State The Council of State is Finland's cabinet; it directs the Government of Finland. However, in governmental translations to English, the distinction is often blurred between cabinet and government in the wider sense. This wider sense includes the Parliament of Finland (on which the cabinet is dependent), the governmental agencies that are directed. Each Secretary of State is appointed for the term of the minister, and is responsible to the minister.
This is a new arrangement; during the introduction of this model, a secretary was called "political state secretary" (poliittinen valtiosihteeri). In contrast, previously only two ministries, ministries of finance and foreign affairs, used to have Secretaries of State, who were permanently appointed. One such example is Raimo Sailas.
France
In France France is a founding member state of the European Union and is the largest one by area. France has been a major power for several centuries with strong cultural, economic, military and political influence in Europe and in the world. During the 17th and 18th centuries, France colonised great parts of North America; during the 19th and early 20th, a Secretary of State is a junior minister, responsible to a minister or the Prime Minister. It is not to be confused with the Minister of State Minister of State is a title borne by politicians or officials in certain countries governed under a parliamentary system. In some countries a "minister of state" is a junior minister, who is assigned to assist a specific cabinet minister. In others countries a "minister of state" is a holder of a more senior position, such as title given to a senior French cabinet minister of particular importance.
Under the Ancien Régime Ancien Régime refers primarily to the aristocratic system that characterized French society and politics established in France under the Valois and Bourbon dynasties from the 14th century to the 18th century). It was overthrown by the French Revolution, Secretaries of State were Crown officers whose responsibilities were similar to those of today's governmental ministers.
Germany
The German Staatssekretär is a Beamter The German word Beamter means civil servant, and is pronounced [bəˈʔamtɐ], with a glottal stop between the 'e' and the 'a'. This English translation may be ambiguous, as German law puts public employees into two classes, namely ordinary employees (Angestellte) and Beamte, making a distinction that does not exist in most other national bodies (civil servant) who is second only to the minister in a state or federal ministry. The office of Staatssekretär is similar to that of vice minister or deputy minister in other countries. It is a political office, meaning that it is assigned by appointment based on political criteria such as party affiliation, rather than by career progression as a civil servant, although he is the administrative head of the ministry. They depend on the full confidence of their minister and can at any time be posted into provisional retirement with their pension paid in full. This happens usually when the government or the minister changes. De facto such a provisional retirement is lifelong and thus expensive for the taxpayers.
A special case is the Parlamentarische Staatssekretär (parliamentary secretary of state), which is a member of parliament who is appointed to a ministry as a Staatssekretär. Such posts, which were intended to improve the connection between a ministry and the parliament, have recently become subject of some controversy. Critics claim that parliamentary secretaries of state are usually given little to no influence and responsibility within their ministry. All the while they are paid very generously due to receiving two salaries, both as secretary of state and as member of parliament. For example, when interviewed about his post as a parliamentary minister of state in the German Foreign Office during an investigation into visa abuse, Ludger Volmer claimed that he had been cut off from the workflow within the ministry, and called the Staatsminister office an "Unding" (absurdity). The German Foreign Office and the German Chancellery are using a slightly different title, and are calling their parliamentary secretaries of state Staatsminister (Minister of State Minister of State is a title borne by politicians or officials in certain countries governed under a parliamentary system. In some countries a "minister of state" is a junior minister, who is assigned to assist a specific cabinet minister. In others countries a "minister of state" is a holder of a more senior position, such as).
In 1998, chancellor Gerhard Schröder Gerhard Fritz Kurt Schröder (German pronunciation: [ˌɡeɐ̯haɐ̯t fʁɪts kʊɐ̯t ˈʃʁøːdɐ] ; 7 April 1944) is a German politician, and was Chancellor of Germany from 1998 to 2005. A member of the Social Democratic Party of Germany (SPD), he led a coalition government of the SPD and the Greens. Before becoming a full-time politician, he introduced the new office of Federal Government Commissioner for Culture and the Media (Beauftragter der Bundesregierung für Kultur und Medien) at the formal rank of a Parlamentarischer Staatssekretär, hence the office is usually called Kulturstaatsminister ("Minister of Culture") for short. The German Parliamentary Commission for Culture and the Media (Ausschuss für Kultur und Medien im Deutschen Bundestag) serves in place of a proper ministry for this department. Since 1998, the office of Kulturstaatsminister has been held by Michael Naumann (1998-2001), Julian Nida-Rümelin (2001-2002), Christina Weiss (2002-2005), and Bernd Neumann (since 2005).
Holy See
The Cardinal Secretary of State The Cardinal Secretary of State—officially Secretary of State of His Holiness The Pope—presides over the Vatican Secretariat of State, which is the oldest and most important dicastery of the Roman Curia. The Cardinal Secretary is regarded as being in charge of the political and diplomatic activities of the Holy See and is thus referred to as presides over the Secretariat of State, which is the most important dicastery Dicastery is an Italicism sometimes used in English to refer to the Departments of the Roman Curia of the Roman Curia The Roman Curia is the administrative apparatus of the Holy See and the central governing body of the entire Catholic Church, together with the Pope. It coordinates and provides the necessary central organization for the correct functioning of the Church and the achievement of its goals, as it organizes, makes appointments to, and directs the activities of the other dicasteries.[2] The secretariat is also responsible for the Holy See The Holy See is the episcopal jurisdiction of the Catholic Church in Rome, in which its Bishop is commonly known as the Pope. It is the preeminent episcopal see of the Catholic Church, forming the central government of the Church. As such, diplomatically, and in other spheres the Holy See acts and speaks for the whole Catholic Church. It is also's foreign relations.[2] During a sede vacante Sede vacante is an expression, used in the Canon Law of the Roman Catholic Church, that refers to the vacancy of the episcopal see of a particular church. It is Latin for "the seat being vacant" , that is, the cathedra of the particular church, the former Secretary of State (the appointment expires when the pope The Pope (from Latin: papa; from Greek: πάππας, a child's word for father) is the Bishop of Rome, a position that makes him the leader of the worldwide Catholic Church (that is, the Latin Rite and the Eastern Catholic Churches in full communion with the see of Rome). The current office-holder is Pope Benedict XVI, who was elected in a papal dies or resigns) assumes some of the functions of the head of state Head of state is the generic term for the individual or collective office that serves as the chief public representative of a monarchy, republic, federation, commonwealth or other kind of state. His or her role generally includes personifying the continuity and legitimacy of the state and exercising the political powers, functions and duties as a part of a temporary commission.[3]
Indonesia
In Indonesia Indonesia , officially the Republic of Indonesia (Indonesian: Republik Indonesia), is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania. Indonesia comprises 17,508 islands. With a population of around 230 million people, it is the world's fourth most populous country, and has the world's largest population of Muslims. Indonesia is a republic, with an, the State Secretary (Sekretaris Negara) is a Government official of Ministerial rank who heads the State Secretariat. The State Secretary gives technical and administrational assistance to the President and Vice President in running State affairs. In the President's case, the State Secretary also provides assistance for the President in his role as Supreme Commander of TNI. In addition, the State Secretary provides the President and Vice President with their reports, coordinates household matters and protocols, as well as assisting in the drafting of bills The Bills were a youth subculture that thrived in Léopoldville in the late 1950s, basing much of their image and outlook on the cowboys of American Western movies and/or Governmental regulations.
Luxembourg
Luxembourgian Luxembourg (pronounced /ˈlʌksəmbɜrɡ/ LUKS-əm-berg), officially the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg (Luxembourgish: Groussherzogtum Lëtzebuerg, French: Grand-Duché de Luxembourg, German: Großherzogtum Luxemburg), is a landlocked country in western Europe, bordered by Belgium, France, and Germany. Luxembourg has a population of over half a Secretaries of State (French French is a Romance language spoken as a first language by about 136 million people worldwide. Around 190 million people speak French as a second language, and an additional 200 million speak it as an acquired foreign language. French speaking communities are present in 57 countries and territories. Most native speakers of the language live in: secrétaire d'Etat, Luxembourgish Luxembourgish , is a Moselle Franconian language spoken mainly in Luxembourg. About 390,000 people worldwide speak Luxembourgish: Staatssekretär(in), German: Staatssekretär(in)) are members of the cabinet, and are ranked below ministers. They are given specific briefs, covering the same briefs as the ministers, and help to assist their respective ministers to perform their functions. They often hold more than one brief or assist more than one minister. In the current cabinet, there is one Secretary of State, Octavie Modert, who is responsible for Relations with Parliament; Agriculture, Viticulture, and Rural Development; and Culture, Higher Education, and Research. There had been two in the previous cabinet, and three between 1984 and 1989.
Mexico
In Mexico In Pre-Columbian Mesoamerica many cultures matured into advanced civilizations such as the Olmec, the Toltec, the Teotihuacan, the Zapotec, the Maya and the Aztec before the first contact with Europeans. In 1521, Spain conquered and colonized the territory, which was administered as the viceroyalty of New Spain which would eventually become Mexico a Secretary of State is a member of the Mexican Executive Cabinet The Cabinet of Mexico is a part of the executive branch of the Mexican government. It consists of eighteen Secretaries of State, the head of the federal executive legal office and the Attorney General who responds to the President of the Republic The Constitutional Citizen President of the United Mexican States is the head of state of Mexico. Under the Constitution, the president is also the head of government and the Supreme Commander of the Mexican armed forces. The current President is Felipe Calderón.
Netherlands
Main article: State Secretary (Netherlands)Norway
Main article: State Secretary (Norway)A statssekretær in Norway plays more or less the same role as the French or Swedish equivalent. Secretaries of State are connected to specific ministry, and serve as a de facto vice minister. However, the State Secretary cannot attend a Council of State.
Orange Free State
In the Orange Free State The Republic of the Orange Free State was an independent Boer republic in southern Africa during the second half of the 19th century, and later a British colony and a province of the Union of South Africa. It is the historical precursor to the present-day Free State province. Extending between the Orange and Vaal rivers, its borders were (1854-1902) the Secretary of State was the original the title of the main administrative officer of the State, who worked closely with both the State President as head of state and head of government, and his cabinet, and with the Volksraad, the parliament of the Orange Free State. The title of State Secretary was replaced by that of Government Secretary soon after the formation of the state apparatus and was thereafter never used again.
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