Secretary of State

In several countries, Secretary of State is a senior government position. The role varies between countries, and in some cases there are multiple Secretaries of State in the government.

The Netherlands

In the Netherlands, a staatssecretaris is a government official directly accountable

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

to a minister. The position of secretary of state has existed since 1948 and is described article 46 of the constitution of the Netherlands. According to the constitution, secretaries of state may be instated and fired by Royal Order (which means by the minister), but in practice these positions are usually created and held for the duration of the cabinet and they can even be used as bargaining chips in coalition negotiations. Again according to the constition, the secretary of state may act as minister in those cases where the minister deems this necessary, taking the minister's directions into account. In practice this usually means that the secretary is responsible for a subfield of the minister's field of work and reports to parliament on issues concerning his field. Secretaries of state may attend the meetings of the council of ministers when they concern their own field, but may not vote in these meetings.

Related Topics:
1948 - Constitution of the Netherlands - Cabinet - Coalition - Parliament

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~