Introduction

This chapter will address the stimulation of cultural participation through policy in the Netherlands. After presenting the rationale of the Dutch government for encouraging cultural participation, two recent initiatives will be discussed and presented as emblematic of the indirect and decentralised fashion in which this policy was executed. Next, we will look at trends in cultural participation in the Netherlands and critically evaluate their usefulness for policy evaluation. Finally, alternative criteria for policymaking and policy evaluation are presented that might be more directly geared towards the underlying policy goal of helping people to enjoy and make sense of the arts and culture.

Cultural Policy on Participation

From its inception, Dutch cultural policy has been involved in attempts to enhance cultural participation. The Ministry of Education, Culture and Science lists the following core issues for cultural policy:

– cultural participation and cultural education

– innovation and talent development

– donating to culture and entrepreneurship

– internationalisation (Ministerie OCW 2013)

Although these themes have consistently received a fair amount of attention from policymakers, the rationale for focusing on these issues has shifted over time. In a sense, encouraging participation and promoting education both serve the same purpose, which is enabling people to appreciate cultural offerings that they might not familiarise themselves with if this was not actively encouraged. That is why, in addition to subsidising artistic production and the cultural infrastructure, the government invests in encouraging people to learn about the arts and to participate in them both as an audience member and as an amateur artist.

It is important to note that the Dutch government is conspicuously reserved when it comes to interfering directly with the arts on the basis of notions such as substance or aesthetic value. The way in which subsidising occurs reflects this reservation. Cultural institutions that are deemed to belong to the country's Basic Cultural Infrastructure (BIS) receive direct funding from the national government. The Council for Culture offers advice in this regard to the government, based on artistic criteria but also additional requirements such as the ability to generate revenues or educational activities. In addition, cultural supply can be subsidised indirectly through mediating cultural funds that are mandated by the government to make artistic selections on its behalf.