A
minister without portfolio is either a
government minister with no specific responsibilities or a minister who does not head a particular
ministry. The
sinecure 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 head any particular office or ministry, does have the right to cast a vote in cabinet decisions. In some countries where the executive branch is not composed of a coalition of parties and, more often, in countries with purely
presidential systems of government, such as the United States, the position (or an equivalent position) of minister without portfolio is uncommon.