The centre of government (CoG), also known as Chancellery, Cabinet Office, Office of the President, Presidencia, White House Executive Office, Privy Council, Casa Civil, among others, is a support structure of a government. Its main objective is to ensure evidence-based, strategic and consistent policy implementation by a government. The structure of the CoG reflects, on the one hand, constitutional and legal requirements, which provide some architectural anchoring, and, on the other, an ability to be highly adaptable to the needs, preferences and personality of the head of government of the moment. To be effective, the CoG needs to be small enough to react rapidly to changing events; as it grows, it risks losing flexibility and becoming unwieldy. At the same time, recent experience suggests that too small could mean too little capacity, which, in turn, endangers the ability to the CoG to provide impartial, authoritative advice and support.

Each country’s centre of government (CoG) is a product of diverse historical, cultural and political forces and has developed incrementally over time. Despite this heterogeneity, strong similarities emerge with respect to the functions that the centre of government performs. CoGs have been traditionally responsible for serving the head of government and cabinet; however they are increasingly expected to combine their traditional role with a more active role in other functions such as policy development, co-ordination, implementation and monitoring mechanisms, which require a higher level of integration and co-ordination with other government departments and -agencies.

Centres of government (CoGs) are currently taking a more active role to align multi-department workplans to government actions. This more active role for the centre of government across the policy cycle suggests the need for new co-ordination and monitoring tools. Rather than organising policy discussions, the CoG has to be able to set agendas and work with other government institutions, including with respect to human and financial resources. However, this horizontal co-ordination process managed by the CoG could be even broader in terms of scope and participation. While policy co-ordination within the administration is a key focus for the CoG, the evolution of modern government means that the CoG is becoming more involved with actors outside the executive branch. Effective working at the international level is an increasingly important aspect of good governance at the domestic level and comes increasingly into the sphere of the CoG.