In the Holy See, the administrative body of the Catholic Church, the cardinal secretary of state coordinates all the departments of the Roman Curia (and is in that respect equivalent to a prime minister).
In Mozambique, the role of vice-minister (Portuguese: vice-ministro) exists as an intermediate government rank between those of minister and Secretary of State.
The Secretary of State (Secretario de Estado) in Argentina (federal government) is a high official with the same rank of a Minister, who is responsible directly to the President.
In Mexico a secretary of state is a member of the Mexican Executive Cabinet who responds to the president of the Republic.
The U.S. secretary of state has the power to remove any foreign diplomat from U.S. soil for any reason.
The now long-established terms "Department ..." and "Secretary of State" were preceded (for two months following the effective date of the Constitution) by the narrower title Secretary of Foreign Affairs and the corresponding departmental name; the change reflected the addition of some miscellaneous domestic responsibilities.
In the presidential line of succession the secretary of state falls first among Cabinet officers, and fourth overall.
The State Secretary (Setiausaha Kerajaan) was established to support the Menteri Besar in overseeing Brunei's administrative functions.
Under the 1959 Constitution, the State Secretary became the principal officer managing internal administrative affairs, ensuring departmental coordination and policy consultation.
Additionally, in legal matters involving government personnel, documents signed by the State Secretary, such as those certifying employment details, were accepted as conclusive evidence in court.
Despite being members of the Government, the Secretaries of State usually do not participate in the Council of Ministers, unless they are specially summoned for and, in this case, without right to vote.
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.
[2] Therefore, appointing people as secretaries of state allows the government to circumvent this constitutional limitation.
Under the Ancien Régime, Secretaries of State were Crown officers whose responsibilities were similar to those of today's governmental ministers.
A special case is the Parliamentary State Secretary (Parlamentarischer Staatssekretär), who is a member of parliament who is appointed to a ministry as a Staatssekretär; in the German Foreign Office and the German Chancellery the official title is Staatsminister (Minister of State).
For example, when interviewed in 2005 about his post as a parliamentary minister of state in the German Foreign Office (1998–2002) during an investigation into visa abuse, Ludger Volmer [de] claimed that he had been cut off from the workflow within the ministry, and called the Staatsminister office an "Unding" (absurdity).
In 1998, chancellor Gerhard Schröder introduced the new office of Federal Government Commissioner for Culture and the Media (German: Beauftragter der Bundesregierung für Kultur und Medien) at the formal rank of a Parlamentarischer Staatssekretär, hence the office is usually called Kulturstaatsminister ("State Minister of Culture") for short – although some of the incumbents did not hold a seat in parliament.
Since 1998, the office of Kulturstaatsminister has been held by Michael Naumann (1998–2001), Julian Nida-Rümelin (2001–2002), Christina Weiss (2002–2005), Bernd Neumann (2005–2013), Monika Grütters (2013–2021) and Claudia Roth (since 2021).
It was first employed for the head of the cabinet under the governorship of Ioannis Kapodistrias, a post held successively by Spyridon Trikoupis (1828–29) and Nikolaos Spiliadis [el] (1829–31).
In the first Juncker-Asselborn cabinet, there was one Secretary of State, Octavie Modert, who is responsible for Relations with Parliament; Agriculture, Viticulture, and Rural Development; and Culture, Higher Education, and Research.
Each State Secretary has a certain portfolio, which is different to their Cabinet Minister to split up the responsibilities and relieve the workload.
Secretaries of State are connected to specific ministry, and serve as a de facto vice minister.
Although having the Constitutional status of Government members, the secretaries of State do not usually participate in the Council of Ministers, unless summoned for certain meetings and, in those cases, without right to vote.
A secretariat of State could be organized as a division of a ministry or occasionally be directly subordinate to the Prime Minister.
Historically, since the 17th century, the title of "secretary of State" was used to designate the heads of the Government departments of Portugal.
In present-day organisation of the Spanish Government a Secretario de Estado is a junior minister.
For example, the Secretary of State for Latin America works for the Minister of Foreign Affairs and Cooperation.
In the Swiss federal administration, secretaries of state are the most senior career officials.
In the United Kingdom, a secretary of state is a senior minister, normally in charge of a government department.
Secretaries of state are appointed directly by the Monarch on the advice of the Prime Minister, and are responsible, along with other Cabinet members, for the collective government of the United Kingdom.