Tony Bennett, Differing diversities - Council of Europe

Reasearch position paper 2Act (GPRA) requires every American federal agency to develop five-year strategicplans with measurable policy goals and indicators that track the effects of governmentpolicies and agency programmes. Similar systems exist in the UnitedKingdom, Europe, Canada, Australia and elsewhere.Likewise, over 80% of the American state governments have instituted performancemeasurement requirements. Responding to this type of legislation, statearts and cultural agencies have identified over one hundred measurement indicators,including indicators directed at promoting cultural diversity. They report thatdeveloping this basic evaluation capacity has enabled them to strengthen theirmanagement and attain more stable funding for arts and cultural organisations(Melkers and Willoughby, 1998).As another example, in the United Kingdom local authorities are required to reappraisetheir policies towards museums regularly (every three to five years) andcarry out periodic performance reviews of museums that include performancemeasurement. These reviews include explicit identification of cultural diversityobjectives (for example, are museum services targeted toward particular groups,such as ethnic minorities? Is the museum accessible to low-income migrants?) andinvestment of government funds is contingent on the local authority being satisfiedthat performance is being measured (for example, what displays and services arebeing targeted at ethnic minorities? Are ethnic minorities using the museum?What difference are the museum’s exhibits and services making for the lives ofethnic minorities?) and that managerial arrangements are satisfactory.There are recognised shortcomings in using performance measures to assess theoutcomes of policies and policy instruments. Formulating policy is a political processand often the resulting objectives are too vague or contradictory to be measured.Performance measures usually do not consider the implementation contextnor do they identify unintended consequences of policies – both of these factorsare critical for the evaluation of cultural diversity policies and instruments. Insteadof measuring outcomes and impact, which can be conceptually and technicallydemanding, often performance measures focus on what is easy to count, such asattendance and the expenditure of resources.Measurement of intended outcomes by voluntary and non-governmental culturalorganisationsGovernment performance assessment efforts have also influenced the evaluation ofvoluntary and non-governmental cultural organisations. Since non-profit culturalorganisations operate programmes with government support and follow publicdirectives and government regulations, they are viewed as public agents in advancingpublic policies (Salamon, 1981). However, many of these organisations havedifficulty defining clear objectives that support public policies and the public good.Filicko (1996) states that the public has such low levels of awareness about the purposesand operation of arts and cultural organisations that these organisationsbecome virtually invisible. Further, the public is sceptical that their efforts are97