[1] Unlike line ministries and other government agencies, the CoG does not deliver services directly to the citizens, and it does not focus on a specific policy area.
A number of authors favor functional definitions, for considering them more applicable to countries with different forms of government and institutional frameworks.
In the United Kingdom, the Cabinet Office dates to 1916, when the war demanded a stronger central coordination for the government.
The following factors have been highlighted: the cross-cutting nature of several current public problems,[8] the need to lead with a unified orientation governments that have decentralized authority to autonomous agencies,[9] and the growing interesting for achieving results for the citizens, beyond a purely fiscal coordination.
For example, in countries like the United Kingdom and Sweden most of the CoG staff belongs to the civil service, while in Canada, Australia and New Zealand political appointees have a larger presence.