Patricia Dewey (pdewey@uoregon.edu): STP&A Conference Paper October 2003 Page 7
The Changing Cultural Policy System
Reflecting shifts in the world system and in the arts system described above, “the policy
arena is broadening to encompass the high, popular, and unincorporated arts, whether nonprofit or
commercial, and deepening to include a number of issues that touch upon the activities of many
arts disciplines and are invested in many federal departments and agencies and levels of
government” (Cherbo & Wyszomirski, 2000, p. 13). It may be argued that arts administrators are
becoming increasingly aware of the national and international policy frameworks in which they
are operating. Throughout the cultural sector, the levels of activity are expanding from the
organizational level to also include a focus on national and international policy. This paradigm
shift may be most readily witnessed in areas such as cultural heritage and preservation, cultural
diplomacy, international touring and presenting, and intellectual property rights issues. However,
the elements and constellation of this nascent cultural policy paradigm are not yet readily
apparent (Wyszomirski, 1995, 2002).
A key element of the new cultural policy paradigm seems to be the important community
role of culture and the arts, in terms of education, community building, urban development,
audience accessibility, and generation of social capital (Weil, 2002; Mercer, 2001; Bradford et
al., 2001; Strom, 2001; Harrison & Huntington, 2000; Adams & Goldbard, 2001). As Cliche
(2001) explains, a “creativity governance and management” concept of cultural administration is
now emerging which goes beyond artistic creation to be viewed as
… the foundation of our creativity and progress including economic, political, intellectual
and social development. This more open concept of culture implies the participation, at
least in principle, of a wide range of decision-makers, promoters and managers in the
formation, production, distribution, preservation, management and consumption of
culture at all levels of society. It also implies a host of institutions and regulatory
frameworks to support such a broadened system of governance (2001, p. 1).
The nature of the emergent cultural policy paradigm in the United States and abroad is
uncertain at present, but it is to be expected that spheres of activity in this paradigm will have to
include organizational administration, national policy, and international diplomacy. Individual
and organizational involvement is expanding to include all three spheres, evident in proactive
activities in policy entrepreneurship, policy influence, heritage, national identity, cultural identity,
social enterprise, and cultural diplomacy.
The Changing Arts Funding System
A growing recognition that the arts and culture is a legitimate and worthwhile element of
society, and is as deserving of governmental support as other sectors, developed throughout the
world’s industrialized countries in the second half of the twentieth century. Government financial