{"id":4636,"date":"2026-01-22T14:40:06","date_gmt":"2026-01-22T22:40:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/worth\/?p=4636"},"modified":"2026-01-27T06:05:31","modified_gmt":"2026-01-27T14:05:31","slug":"cultural-policy-what-dont-we-know","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/worth\/2026\/01\/cultural-policy-what-dont-we-know\/","title":{"rendered":"Cultural policy: what don’t we know"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"\"<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This past week I\u2019ve been sent different, interesting takes on the state of cultural policy research. My friend James Doeser, who is very smart about these things, has a short post \u201cThe crisis of cultural policy in the 21st century<\/a>\u201d that is well worth your time (update: here is James’s second post<\/a>). Friends and former colleagues Joanna Woronkowicz and Doug Noonan\u00a0have a piece<\/a>\u00a0on whether we need more (unbiased, useful) evidence-based research on cultural policy. And the good people at the journal\u00a0Cultural Trends<\/em>\u00a0recorded a session for podcast on whether we actually have\u00a0lots<\/em>\u00a0of evidence-based work, but what is actually needed is a rethinking of\u00a0theory<\/em>\u00a0about cultural policy –\u00a0here is the Spotify link<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It would be hard to summarize all this, so I\u2019ll just go ahead with my own take.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I am focusing on the policy of the government\u2019s giving grants to artists and museums and festivals and performing arts organizations. There are lots of other important cultural policy issues, around copyright, AI, international exchange, treatment of workers, and so on, but since I managed to write a book<\/a> about public funding, with readership now reaching into the tens, I\u2019ll stick to that.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Traditionally, in the US, grants have been given on the basis of applications by artists and organizations who say they will do something good with the money – an artist can complete a project they are working on, an orchestra can commission a new work, a festival will bring art to the community. But it has surfaced (it was always lurking there) that people don\u2019t agree on what, if anything, is worthy of support. Fresh, new artists? Popular, fill-the-hall productions? Excellence as determined by those well-educated in the genre? Art that glorifies America?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What we don\u2019t know about cultural policy is: what do we hope it will accomplish? The end point of not being able to answer this question is, to my mind, the new enthusiasm for guaranteed-income-for-artists <\/a>programs, which essentially say \u201cthe point of policy is to give away money – we don\u2019t care what you plan to do with it, and afterwards we won\u2019t ask what art came out of it.\u201d I\u2019ve yet to see a convincing case for why this makes any sense at all.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

There is no \u201cevidence-based\u201d research that will solve the problem of what we want arts policy to do. You need to know your goals first<\/em>, and then you can ask: what does the evidence say about effective and ineffective ways to achieve that goal? But there are no numbers, whether regarding arts participation, or social impacts, or what cities are \u201carts vibrant\u201d, that will answer the question of what we ought to be doing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

There is no \u201ctheory\u201d that will answer this question either. There are theories about cultural policy, sure, but none that are universally held, or that give direction on what we ought to be doing (the one exception here is maybe Bourdieu; if we take seriously his claim that all the high arts do is preserve social hierarchies, then the only cultural policy that makes sense is to burn the arts council to the ground).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Cultural policy research is stuck in the mud because there is no consensus on the goals of policy. No analysis, empirical or theoretical, is going to resolve the matter.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Cross-posted at: https:\/\/michaelrushton.substack.com\/<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

This past week I\u2019ve been sent different, interesting takes on the state of cultural policy research. My friend James Doeser, who is very smart about these things, has a short post \u201cThe crisis of cultural policy in the 21st century\u201d that is well worth your time (update: here is James’s second post). Friends and former […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":4637,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","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-4636","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\/2026\/01\/image-1.png","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p3dIW5-1cM","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":4659,"url":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/worth\/2026\/03\/reading-eleonora-redaellis-invisible-cultural-policy-in-america\/","url_meta":{"origin":4636,"position":0},"title":"Reading Eleonora Redaelli’s Invisible Cultural Policy in America","author":"Michael Rushton","date":"March 4, 2026","format":false,"excerpt":"This recent book is open access,\u00a0here. And my full review in the\u00a0International Review of Public Policy\u00a0is also open access,\u00a0here. My review begins: There is an old joke: An American tourist is visiting Oxford for the first time, and on his first morning signs up for a guided walking tour. The\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\/2026\/03\/image.png?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.artsjournal.com\/worth\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/image.png?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.artsjournal.com\/worth\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/image.png?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":2892,"url":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/worth\/2023\/06\/call-for-papers-cultural-policy-and-cultural-democracy-a-global-dialogue-santiago-de-chile\/","url_meta":{"origin":4636,"position":1},"title":"Call for Papers – Cultural Policy and Cultural Democracy: A Global Dialogue – Santiago de Chile","author":"Michael Rushton","date":"June 8, 2023","format":false,"excerpt":"The journal Cultural Trends (for which I serve on the Editorial Board) is hosting a wonderful event: The Cultural Trends journal team are hosting their first 'Global Dialogue' conference event in Santiago de Chile. Key themes (could) include: cultural democracy and social justice; power, public management and cultural policies; development\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\/2023\/06\/image-1.png?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.artsjournal.com\/worth\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/image-1.png?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.artsjournal.com\/worth\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/image-1.png?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.artsjournal.com\/worth\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/image-1.png?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":932,"url":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/worth\/2013\/07\/do-cultural-districts-matter\/","url_meta":{"origin":4636,"position":2},"title":"Do cultural districts matter?","author":"Michael Rushton","date":"July 1, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"At the Art Newspaper, Adrian Ellis claims that they do: Few cities command the accolade \u201cgreat\u201d or even \u201cliveable\u201d without a significant cultural presence. Today, whether the question is \u201cWhere is the best place to bring up your family?\u201d, \u201cWhere do knowledge workers congregate?\u201d or \u201cWhat attracts inward investment?\u201d, \u201cCities\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "issues"","block_context":{"text":"issues","link":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/worth\/category\/issues\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"walkable?","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.artsjournal.com\/worth\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/07\/Dallas_Arts_District_Opera_House_construction_Meyerson-300x225.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":1982,"url":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/worth\/2016\/02\/is-there-a-canadian-cultural-policy-crisis\/","url_meta":{"origin":4636,"position":3},"title":"Is there a Canadian cultural policy crisis?","author":"Michael Rushton","date":"February 13, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"At the Globe and Mail, Kate Taylor writes: The policy tools that have protected and nurtured Canada\u2019s cultural industries since the 1970s are unknown to transnational distributors of foreign content \u2013 that would be Google, YouTube and Netflix \u2013 while Canadian consumers are increasingly sidestepping the domestic distributors who, whether\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "issues"","block_context":{"text":"issues","link":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/worth\/category\/issues\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"a childhood favourite","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.artsjournal.com\/worth\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/02\/paddle-to-the-sea.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":1352,"url":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/worth\/2014\/06\/summer-books-astra-taylors-the-peoples-platform\/","url_meta":{"origin":4636,"position":4},"title":"Summer books: Astra Taylor’s ‘The People’s Platform’","author":"Michael Rushton","date":"June 17, 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"Summer is time to catch up on reading all of those books I bought during the school year. Let's begin with Astra Taylor, The People's Platform: Taking Back Power and Culture in the Digital Age. I enjoyed the book, political economy applied to the contemporary digital media world. It covers\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "issues"","block_context":{"text":"issues","link":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/worth\/category\/issues\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Astra Taylor","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.artsjournal.com\/worth\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/06\/Astra-Taylor.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":1885,"url":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/worth\/2015\/04\/are-nonprofit-arts-organizations-special\/","url_meta":{"origin":4636,"position":5},"title":"Are nonprofit arts organizations special?","author":"Michael Rushton","date":"April 16, 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"April 16, 2015 marked the opening session of a conference held at the School of Public and Environmental Affairs at Indiana University Bloomington, on Advancing the Field(s) of Nonprofit Management: New Structures, New Solutions. I was asked to speak about the arts, specifically about relationships between nonprofit arts organizations and\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "issues"","block_context":{"text":"issues","link":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/worth\/category\/issues\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Blood alone moves the wheels of history!","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.artsjournal.com\/worth\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/04\/my-speech.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/worth\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4636","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=4636"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/worth\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4636\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4639,"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/worth\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4636\/revisions\/4639"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/worth\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/4637"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/worth\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4636"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/worth\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4636"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/worth\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4636"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}