Why we need European cultural policies: the impact of EU ...

argument referred to identifying examples of good practice and good ideas for the developmentof public policies so that they can be put into effect in other countries. Another goal of thecomparison of public policies is to reach an understanding of the process of decision-makingand the functioning of government institutions in solving specific problems. Thirdly, there is theglobal context, where certain challenges `spill over’ national borders, and where a number ofinternationally legally binding instruments directing and limiting the formulation of national policiesgrow, making it impossible to analyze public policies at a national level without taking account ofthe broader context that affects them.This third reason is particularly pertinent for the discussion about the need for a more coordinatedEuropean policy towards culture. Even if one can understand the legal, political and ideologicalobstacles that have hitherto prevented EU member states from deciding on a European-levelcultural policy, it is questionable if the most rational choice was to leave culture aside. It isobviously difficult for nation states to cope with some global problems if they rely solely onmeasures and policies conceived and introduced at the national level.Comparative cultural policy research in EuropeEven though there are many theoretical approaches to comparative research of public policies,there is no model that can claim to be universal for all areas of public policies and that would beself-sufficient in a way that it could apply to the entire field. In any case, the choice of methodologytends to be very much influenced by the definition of a specific area of public policy. While it isfair to say that each area of policy – economic, social and so on – has its own unique aspects,additional problems arise in cultural policy, because its content and scope is defined differentlyin specific states or traditions, often a consequence of the numerous definitions of the term`culture’ itself.10Ministers of culture are managing a field which is constantly changing and is often consideredmarginal compared with other areas of government interest (Landry and Matarasso 1999).While ministers of health or education have thousands of hospitals and schoolsas well as millions of employees, ministers of culture manage directly only a verysmall number of institutions. The development and managing of cultural policiesremains one of the most complex issues for today’s governments, a sort ofbalancing act, not so much among competing priorities as in other policy areas,but rather among differing visions of the role that culture plays in the society.18Part 1 The conceptual frame of the study