{"id":1216,"date":"2014-04-13T06:57:39","date_gmt":"2014-04-13T13:57:39","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/worth\/?p=1216"},"modified":"2014-04-13T06:57:39","modified_gmt":"2014-04-13T13:57:39","slug":"what-do-we-want-from-a-culture-secretary","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/worth\/2014\/04\/what-do-we-want-from-a-culture-secretary\/","title":{"rendered":"What do we want from a Culture Secretary?"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"yes,<\/a>Sajid Javid has been appointed s the UK Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport. His backstory is here<\/a>, and misgivings about the appointment of someone from the world of finance with no obvious affinities for the high arts are in the Guardian<\/em> here<\/a> and here<\/a>. Blog neighbour Paul Levy writes<\/a>:<\/p>\n

The only thing we really know about his interest in the arts is that he has defended ticket touts. We\u2019ll see. I, of course, want a Culture Minister who is an opera queen, a collector of contemporary art, a theatre buff, a reader of fiction and passionate about serious music.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

I’m not so sure.<\/p>\n

Let’s think about what a member of cabinet does. First, the Secretary of Culture (for short) works with the Department (i.e. the bureaucrats) to develop priorities and initiatives, and then advocates for them at the Cabinet table. In this way the Secretary is a defender not just of the arts writ large, but of the specific things he or she wants to accomplish through the implementation of policy. The Prime Minister wants<\/em> the members of Cabinet to each advocate for their respective department’s priorities – that is how the PM best gathers information on the state of play, and to form priorities for the government. Does this require that the Secretary of Culture be a passionate consumer of all the high arts? Not necessarily. More important that the Minister be an effective advocate for arts policy. This needs be done with some passion, of course. But it’s not clear the person so deeply involved in all aspects of the arts on a personal<\/em> level is necessarily the best person for the arts in cabinet. Particularly so because the Culture Secretary, even if someone who lives for the arts, needs to be able to put personal preferences aside in order to make the case for coherent policy. Would the ‘opera queen’ look with disdain upon folk music festivals? Might the ‘collector of contemporary art’ think investments in painting classes for seniors a waste of resources? The Culture Secretary Mr Levy desires might not work out so well, if it is a Secretary of firmly held views on what is valuable and what is not in the arts. Governing is a team sport, not well-suited for someone with deeply held personal preferences.<\/p>\n

Second, the Secretary of Culture needs the administrative ability to hold the bureaucracy accountable for the timely and efficient implementation of agreed upon policies. This is not a simple task, as I observed in the few years I spent working as a policy advisor in a (Westminster-style parliamentary) cabinet office in government (admittedly much smaller<\/a> than the British parliament, but the framework was the same). Government departments require oversight to ensure the bureaucracy is not simply implementing the policies it<\/em> prefers, and disregarding the rest – this is the running joke, and the source of the ironic title of the BBC’s series Yes, Minister<\/em><\/a>. And again, this job does not require that the Secretary be constantly seen at gallery openings or the theatre.<\/p>\n

In my experience, members of cabinet appear at events to see and be seen by the stakeholders of their portfolios, but it is not a part of the job they enjoy much, simply because they are so overwhelmingly busy with the other tasks of being a member of cabinet, having oversight authority of a large bureaucracy, and being an elected, and hopefully re-elected, representative of their district. At the opera, the Culture Secretary’s head is filled with all the various tasks that need attending to, not on how well this tenor sings Lohengrin.<\/p>\n

So I suggest giving Mr Javid a chance to show that he can be an effective Culture Secretary in terms of advancing wise cultural policy, and ensuring it is implemented with fairness, economy, and responsiveness. In the end, that’s much more important than how often he is seen at the theatre.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Sajid Javid has been appointed s the UK Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport. His backstory is here, and misgivings about the appointment of someone from the world of finance with no obvious affinities for the high arts are in the Guardian here and here. Blog neighbour Paul Levy writes: The only thing […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":1218,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[26],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-1216","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-issues","8":"entry"},"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/worth\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/04\/ym21_jimhumphrey1.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p3dIW5-jC","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":4611,"url":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/worth\/2025\/11\/bill-ivey\/","url_meta":{"origin":1216,"position":0},"title":"Bill Ivey","author":"Michael Rushton","date":"November 12, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"Bill Ivey died this past weekend; he was eighty-one years old. It came as a shock to us - just last week he was here in Bloomington meeting with our arts policy students, something he loved doing. He was a great friend to our program, generous with his time and\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "issues"","block_context":{"text":"issues","link":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/worth\/category\/issues\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.artsjournal.com\/worth\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/image-1.png?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":3745,"url":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/worth\/2025\/03\/the-french-culture-pass-revisited\/","url_meta":{"origin":1216,"position":1},"title":"The French Culture Pass Revisited","author":"Michael Rushton","date":"March 4, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"ArtReview tells us that the French Culture Pass is being put on simmer: The French Government has announced a 50 percent cut in their lauded Culture Pass, four years after its nationwide launch for young people aged fifteen to eighteen\u00a0to take up cultural activities. The legislation, signed by Prime Minister\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "issues"","block_context":{"text":"issues","link":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/worth\/category\/issues\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.artsjournal.com\/worth\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/image.png?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":4607,"url":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/worth\/2025\/11\/we-dont-need-an-alt-cultural-policy\/","url_meta":{"origin":1216,"position":2},"title":"We Don’t Need an Alt Cultural Policy","author":"Michael Rushton","date":"November 4, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"In\u00a0a recent post\u00a0comparing the White House\u2019s proposed \u201ccompact\u201d with universities to the situation facing the nonprofit arts in the United States, I wrote: The administration\u2019s interventions into the Kennedy Center and the Smithsonian museums have received a lot of press, and these \u201canti-woke\u201d interventions have a lot in common with\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "issues"","block_context":{"text":"issues","link":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/worth\/category\/issues\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.artsjournal.com\/worth\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/image.png?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.artsjournal.com\/worth\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/image.png?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.artsjournal.com\/worth\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/image.png?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.artsjournal.com\/worth\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/image.png?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.artsjournal.com\/worth\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/image.png?resize=1050%2C600&ssl=1 3x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.artsjournal.com\/worth\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/image.png?resize=1400%2C800&ssl=1 4x"},"classes":[]},{"id":2040,"url":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/worth\/2016\/06\/brexit-and-culture-its-complicated\/","url_meta":{"origin":1216,"position":3},"title":"Brexit and culture: it’s complicated","author":"Michael Rushton","date":"June 28, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"Midsomer Murders is a long-running\u00a0English\u00a0detective series produced by ITV, based upon the characters created by Caroline Graham. Chief Inspector Barnaby and his team solve crimes in this (fictional) county of small villages and lovely rural landscapes. In Midsomer people ride their bicycles past thatched-roofed houses to attend fetes, go to\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "issues"","block_context":{"text":"issues","link":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/worth\/category\/issues\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"a sticky wicket","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.artsjournal.com\/worth\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/06\/midsomer.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":2696,"url":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/worth\/2021\/07\/about-that-french-culture-pass\/","url_meta":{"origin":1216,"position":4},"title":"About that French Culture Pass…","author":"Michael Rushton","date":"July 29, 2021","format":false,"excerpt":"The French government had the idea to give teenagers a 300 Euro credit (through a phone app) to spend on \"culture\". A few limits were placed upon it - a 100 Euro maximum on online subscriptions, and any video games had to be French (trade protectionism is a given in\u2026","rel":"","context":"With 9 comments","block_context":{"text":"With 9 comments","link":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/worth\/2021\/07\/about-that-french-culture-pass\/#comments"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.artsjournal.com\/worth\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/07\/shinji.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.artsjournal.com\/worth\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/07\/shinji.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.artsjournal.com\/worth\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/07\/shinji.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.artsjournal.com\/worth\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/07\/shinji.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":1119,"url":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/worth\/2014\/03\/a-cautionary-note-on-the-social-and-economic-value-of-the-arts\/","url_meta":{"origin":1216,"position":5},"title":"A Cautionary Note on the Social and Economic Value of the Arts","author":"Michael Rushton","date":"March 14, 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"Arts Council England has released a new report on The Value of Arts and Culture to People and Society: An Evidence Review. 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From the foreword by the Chair of the Council, Sir Peter Bazalgette: Of course the inherent value of arts and culture is, in\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "issues"","block_context":{"text":"issues","link":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/worth\/category\/issues\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"think of the grandchildren","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.artsjournal.com\/worth\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/03\/keynes4-300x290.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/worth\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1216","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/worth\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/worth\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/worth\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/worth\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1216"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/worth\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1216\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/worth\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1218"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/worth\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1216"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/worth\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1216"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/worth\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1216"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}