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Cultural Policy 101: Demystifying the US Ecosystem
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Demystifying the US Ecosystem: Myth 1 & 2
Demystifying the US Ecosystem: Myth 3
Demystifying the US Ecosystem: Myth 4
Demystifying the US Ecosystem: Myth 5
Demystifying the US Ecosystem: On the Horizon
Demystifying the US Ecosystem: Conclusions
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Table of Contents

Cultural Policy 101: Demystifying the US Ecosystem
Introduction
Myth 1: The absence of a cultural ministry indicates that the United States does not value culture and does not take it seriously.
Constitutional Values and Identity
Myth 2: The National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) is the de facto Ministry of Culture.
Myth 3: The United States does not have national cultural policies.
The Federal Framework: Fostering Partnerships & Diversity
Cultural Policy at the State and Local Levels
Myth 4: Private and foundation investments in arts and culture are the prime source of income for the arts and cultural sector and provide more than a sufficient source of support.
Myth 5: Exported cultural products represent American cultural values and international cultural policy priorities.
Exporting Culture
International Priorities
On the Horizon
Changing Demographics & Participation
 Creative Sector
Conclusions
Disadvantages
Advantages
All Resources


Conclusions

Examining the realities behind the myths is only a starting point in understanding the complex and decentralized American cultural policy ecosystem and the formal field of U.S. cultural policy. In sum, the U.S. cultural ecosystem has evolved from a history of suspicion towards federal authority and a cultural value system based on democracy and freedom, into a decentralized field of horizontal and vertical partnerships between the federal, state, and local levels as well as the private and civil society sectors. Despite the lack of an officially recognized national culture or centralized coordinating department, the U.S. has created a culturally specific system that upholds citizen’s rights and fosters diversity. Cultural policy making in the U.S. may seem passive and obtuse but only by understanding how the U.S. system actually operates can the ecosystem and its values, policies and initiatives be judged on their own merit.

Fundamentally, this complicated system has both advantages and disadvantages as articulated below.

Disadvantages:

  • Cultural policy making can be interpreted as passive and reactive
  • There are comparatively fewer multidisciplinary experts within the government
  • It is more challenging to coordinate stakeholders
  • Partnerships often have insufficient resources and become ends in themselves
  • The system is predicated on a free market mentality; cultural value is increasingly being linked to economic gains
  • International representation for cultural policy related discussions is complicated

    Advantages:

  • The system fosters diversity and partnerships and encourages specialization
  • Safeguards are provided against governmental censorship
  • Flexibility is possible as there is no one institution or source of support
  • It is more expressive of different viewpoints, not dominated by the federal level
  • Cultural policy research comes from a variety of independent sources.

    Today there is a plethora of information available on the field from multiple academic, private and public sector sources that provide more in-depth analysis on the structure, impact and future directions of the American cultural policy system at all levels (see All Resources.) Changes in the way the ecosystem is funded will have considerable effect as nonprofit organizations are challenged to find additional diverse sources of funding. As seductive as it is to link the cultural sector’s value to economic indicators and values, this is a double-edged sword with the potential to ignore the other inherent benefits of participating in arts and culture. In the future, cultural policy will continue to become more important as the U.S. will need to expand its priorities beyond fostering partnerships and preserving the past to actively considering policies relating to identity, participation, the creative sector and the effects of technology.

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