Abstract
Using the neo-classical justifications for government support of the arts that Dick Netzer discussed in The Subsidized Muse as a starting point, the article contends that market failure is not an useful concept to understand and explain cultural policies and the degree of government involvement, particularly when viewed from a comparative perspective. The basic fault is that historical- institutional arrangements and the role of non-state actors in the formation of cultural policies are not taken into account. Discussing some aspects of the institutional framework in the development of French, Swedish and U.S. cultural policies, the article concludes with a call for the use of neo-institutionalist perspectives in analyzing government intervention in the arts field.
References
Alt, J. and Shepsle, K. (eds.) (1990) Perspectives on Positive Political Economy. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge and New York.
Andrault, M. and Dressayre, P. (1987) “Government and the Arts in France”, in M.C. Cummings and R.S. Katz (eds.), The Patron State: Government and the Arts in Europe, North America, and Japan. Oxford University Press, New York and Oxford.
Anheier, H.K. and Toepler, S. (1998) “Commerce and the Muse: Are Art Museums Becoming Commercial?”, in B.A. Weisbrod (ed.), To Profit or Not to Profit: The Commercial Transformation of the Nonprofit Sector. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge and New York.
Baumol, W. and Bowen, W. (1966) Performing Arts: The Economic Dilemma. Twentieth Century Fund, New York.
Blomkvist, R. (1982) Popular Organizations and the Promotion of Cultural Activities in Sweden. The Swedish Institute, Stockholm.
Brinton, M. and Nee, V. (eds.) (1998) The New Institutionalism in Sociology. Russell Sage Foundation, New York.
Clague, C. (ed.) (1997) Institutions and Economic Development: Growth and Governance in Less-Developed and Post-Socialist Countries. Johns Hopkins University Press, Baltimore.
Cobb, N. (1996) Looking Ahead: Private Sector Giving to the Arts and Humanities. President' Committee on the Arts and the Humanities, Washington, D.C.
Cummings, M.C. (1991) “Government and the Arts: An Overview”, in S. Benedict (ed.) Public Money and the Muse. W.W. Norton, New York and London.
Cummings, M.C. (1995) “To Change a Nation' Cultural Policy: The Kennedy Administration and the Arts in the United States, 1961–1963”, in K.V. Mulcahy and M.J. Wyszomirski (eds.), America' Commitment to Culture: Government and the Arts. Westview Press, Boulder.
DiMaggio, P. (1986) “Support for the Arts from Independent Foundations”, in P.J. DiMaggio (ed.), Nonprofit Enterprise in the Arts: Studies in Mission and Constraint. Oxford University Press, New York and Oxford.
DiMaggio, P. (1987) “Nonprofit Organizations in the Production and Distribution of Culture”, in W.W. Powell (ed.), The Nonprofit-Sector: A Research Handbook. Yale University Press, New Haven and London.
Dutch Ministry of Welfare, Health and Cultural Affairs (1994) Cultural Policy in the Netherlands. (European Programme for the Evaluation of National Cultural Policies). Council of Europe, Strasbourg.
Dye, T.R. (1976) Policy Analysis. What Governments Do, Why They Do It, And What Difference It Makes. University of Alabama Press, Tuscaloosa.
Essig, C. and de la Taille Rivero, M. (1993) ”Frankreich und die Kulturförderung heute”, in R. Strachwitz and S. Toepler (eds.), Kulturförderung: Mehr als Sponsoring.
Gabler, Wiesbaden. Fenger, P. (1987) “Government and the Arts: The Netherlands”, in M.C. Cummings and R.S. Katz (eds.), The Patron State: Government and the Arts in Europe, North America, and Japan. Oxford University Press, New York and Oxford.
Girard, A. (1997) “French Cultural Policy from André Malraux to Jack Lang: A Tale of Modernisation”. International Journal of Cultural Policy 4(1): 107–126.
Grindhammer, L.W. (1975) Art and the Public: The Democratization of the Fine Arts in the United States, 1830–1860. Metzler, Stuttgart.
Hanimann, Joseph (1997) ”ächzen im Palais Royal. Frankreichs Kulturministerin hat den Ton noch nicht gefunden”. F.A.Z., November 19.
Heilbrun, J. and Gray, C.M. (1993) The Economies of Art and Culture. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge.
van Hemel, A. and van der Wielen, N. (eds.), (1997) Privatization/D é s é tatisation and Culture: Limitations or Opportunities for Cultural Development in Europe? Conference Reader for the Circle Round Table 1997. Boekman Foundation and Twente University, Amsterdam.
Huntington, Samuel P. (1968) Political Order in Changing Societies. Yale University Press, New Haven.
Institute for Community Development and the Arts (1997) Building America' Communities II. Americans for the Arts, Washington, D.C.
Irjala, A. (1996) “(De)Centralisation Processes in Nordic Cultural Policy”. European Journal of Cultural Policy 3(1): 109–132.
Kangas, A. and Onsér-Franzén, J. (1996) “Is There a Need for a New Cultural Policy Strategy in the Nordic Welfare State?” European Journal of Cultural Policy 3(1): 15–26.
Kleberg, C.J. (1987) “Cultural Policy in Sweden”, in M.C. Cummings and R.S. Katz (eds.), The Patron State: Government and the Arts in Europe, North America, and Japan. Oxford University Press, New York and Oxford.
Mulcahy, K. (1998) “Cultural Patronage in Comparative Perspective: Public Support for the Arts in France, Germany, Norway, and Canada”. Journal of Arts Management, Law, and Society 27(4): 247–263.
Myerscough, J. (1990) National Cultural Policy in Sweden. Council of Europe, Strasbourg.
Nerep, E. (1997) “Sweden”, in L.M. Salamon, The International Guide to Nonprofit Law. John Wiley, New York.
Netzer, D. (1978) The Subsidized Muse: Public Support for the Arts in the United States. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge and New York.
Netzer, D. (1992) “Arts and Culture”, in C.T. Clotfelter (ed.), Who Benefits from the Nonprofit Sector? University of Chicago Press, Chicago and London.
North, D. (1990) Institutions, Institutional Change and Economic Performance. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge and New York.
Olasky, M. (1992) The Tragedy of American Compassion. Regnery Publishing, Washington, D.C.
Plotinsky, A. (1994) “Music as Philanthropy: Making Music and Building Community in Nineteenth-Century America”. Nonprofit and Voluntary Sector Quarterly 23(4): 371–381.
Powell, W.W. and DiMaggio, P. (eds.) (1991) The New Institutionalism in Organizational Analysis. University of Chicago Press, Chicago and London.
Ridley, F.F. (1987) “Tradition, Change and Crisis in Great Britain”, in M.C. Cummings and R.S. Katz (eds.), The Patron State: Government and the Arts in Europe, North America, and Japan. Oxford University Press, New York and Oxford.
Salamon, L.M. (1995) Partners in Public Service: Government-Nonprofit Relations in the Modern Welfare State. Johns Hopkins University Press, Baltimore.
Schuster, J.M.D. (1986) “Tax Incentives as Arts Policy in Western Europe”, in P.J. DiMaggio (ed.), Nonprofit Enterprise in the Arts: Studies in Mission and Constraint. Oxford University Press, New York and Oxford.
Schuster, J.M.D. (1987) “Making Compromises to Make Comparisons in Cross-National Arts Policy Research”. Journal of Cultural Economics 11(2): 1–29.
Stevens, L. (1996) “The Earnings Shift: The New Bottom Line Paradigm for the Arts Industry in a Market-Driven Era”. The Journal of Arts Management, Law and Society 26(2): 101–113.
Svenson, G. (1982) State Organizations and the Promotion of Cultural Activities in Sweden. The Swedish Institute, Stockholm.
Swedish Ministry of Education and Cultural Affairs (1990) Swedish State Cultural Policy: Policy, Objectives, Measures, and Results. A National Report. Allmänna, Stockholm.
Swedish National Council for Cultural Affairs (1997) Swedish Cultural Policy. Kulturradet Distribution, Göteborg.
Toepler, S. (1991) Kulturfinanzierung – Ein Vergleich U.S.A.–Deutschland. Gabler, Wiesbaden.
Toepler, S. and Zimmer, A. (1996) “The State and the Non-Profit Sector in the Provision of Arts and Culture: The Cases of Germany and the United States”. The European Journal of Cultural Policy 3(2): 289–304.
Wangermée, R. (1991) Cultural Policy in France. (European Programme for the Appraisal of Cultural Policies). Council of Europe, Strasbourg.
Wyszomirski, M.J. and Mulcahy, K.V. (1995) “The Organization of Public Support for the Arts”, in K.V. Mulcahy and M.J. Wyszomirski (eds.), America' Commitment to Culture: Government and the Arts. Westview Press, Boulder.
Zimmer, A. and Toepler, S. (1996) “Cultural Policies and the Welfare State: The Cases of Sweden, Germany, and the United States”. The Journal of Arts Management, Law, and Society 26(3): 167–193.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Zimmer, A., Toepler, S. The Subsidized Muse: Government and the Arts in Western Europe and the United States. Journal of Cultural Economics 23, 33–49 (1999). https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1007565515785
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1007565515785