Government and the arts: a framework for analysis

Abstract

This paper presents a model of the evolution of government arts policy in newly independent states, incorporating a series of stages and determinants. It proposes that, after relative neglect in the early years of independence, there is a period of involvement in which the arts acquire importance as a means of binding together a possibly disparate population and reinforcing a sense of nationhood. Development then takes place and the arts, as part of the creative industries sector, may be employed as both an economic and political tool. Subsequent phases are likely to be consolidation, followed by a range of alternatives depending on the operation of various stimuli and constraints. The model is tested using the case of Singapore, where the role of the arts has undergone significant change in the short history of the republic. Insights are thus provided into arts policy-making generally and within a distinctive Asian context, although the model requires further testing over time in Singapore and elsewhere in order to permit more definite conclusions about its validity.