Denmark/ 1. Historical perspective: cultural policies and instruments  

The development of public cultural policy and institutions in Denmark is closely linked to the cultural and political movements that fostered Danish democracy and the welfare state. When Denmark adopted its first democratic constitution in 1849, responsibility for support to art and culture gradually shifted from the Royal Court to the newly constituted civil administration.

Culture in Denmark already had a solid feudal tradition and a well-established infrastructure, consisting of absolutist secular and ecclesiastical cultural institutions, upon which to build.

In Denmark, cultural life and the authorities have had a mutual commitment to one another since the Middle Ages. The Reformation of 1536 transferred responsibility for culture from the Church to the Court. Until the June Constitution of 1849 and the advent of democracy, it was almost exclusively the King and the members of his court who, to varying degrees, showed interest in and funded culture.

Cultural policy under the absolute monarchs was elitist, but cosmopolitan compared to the new bourgeois culture that emerged from the increasingly influential merchant and civil servant classes in Copenhagen around the middle of the 18th century. The bourgeoisie, which was predominantly Danish in contrast to the mainly German aristocracy, argued for a national orientation of cultural policy. The rapprochement between the Social Democratic labour movement's class-based perception of culture and the Radical Party's popular education philosophy, during the period of reconciliation in the 1930s, laid the political foundations for the formation of the welfare based cultural policy after WWII and the setting up of the Ministry of Culture in 1961. The price paid was that culture was now perceived and defined, first and foremost, as a national phenomenon.

Although the public cultural policy was a part of the post-war national construction process, the general objectives and means were defined in the universal concepts of enlightenment philosophy. What had not been culturally realised in the traditional bourgeois public sphere since the French Revolution and the revolution of 1848 should now be realised in the framework of the welfare state. Public cultural policy, financed and organised by the state and municipalities, was meant to guarantee artistic freedom and cultural diversity. Art and culture were thought as a means for building up the cultural and aesthetic competence for all citizens, to enable them to take part in the development of a democratic welfare society. 

Allocation of grants, through autonomous arts councils, experts committees, institutions and other "arm's length" bodies, inspired by the Danish tradition of self- governance, were organised to guarantee the independence of arts and culture from economic and political interests. Ideally, the ministry's role was as an architect to build a house of culture with rooms for all. As suggested by the original name, The Danish Ministry for Cultural Affairs (Ministeriet for Kulturelle Anliggender), the role of the Ministry as state authority was first and foremost a political and administrative framework designed to improve the conditions for art and culture, but not to interfere with the content. Neither politicians nor civil servants, but independent peer groups, should grant money to the arts, i.e. through The Danish Art Foundation (Statens Kunstfond) established in 1964.

In the 1960s, the focus of Danish cultural policy was on the dissemination of professional art. The strategy was called democratisation of culture. The welfare state distributed cultural goods to all Danes, whether they lived in Copenhagen, small provincial towns, or urban districts. All parts of the country and all social groups were to have access to theatre, music, libraries, etc. of a high standard and provided by professionals. They were to have the opportunity to encounter and thereby learn to appreciate "art of good quality". Therefore, state support of the arts should be given to the very best that the Danish artistic community produced. The same applied to the public cultural institutions and activities, whether organised on national, regional or local level.

However, it soon became evident that not all Danes appreciated what some considered "incomprehensible fine art of modernism". As a result, a broader concept of culture was introduced into the cultural policies of the 1970s. The new ideals and strategies of cultural democracy showed more respect for cultural diversity and the right to pluralism. It guaranteed the right of creativity and self-expression. Decentralisation was strengthened. Decisions on cultural policy should be taken as close to the citizens as feasible. The state should support amateur as well as professional activities. In a broader sense, it also meant that the state should support diverse cultural groups including minorities.

In the 1980s, the aims of cultural politics often took another course. Cultural activities were often considered as tools to serve social purposes. Culture and art were to solve problems of unemployment of young people, attracting tourists with the purpose of economic development, securing highly skilled employees for new advanced companies, etc.

In 1992 the Ministry of Culture introduced aim- and result-management of the state institutions, with performance contracts as a steering compass. The purpose was to secure cohesion between the political expectations and the results of the institutions. The overall aim still was to support the creative arts, cultural education and research, cultural heritage, media etc. with the mission to promote general education and cultural development of the citizens. At the same time the economic rationale of cultural policy has been still more emphasised as a part of the "experience economy" since late 1990s. This line has been improved by the present government parallel with the overall aim to give priority to professional arts policy, improving the conditions for the most talented artists and to develop new artistically talents.

Finally cultural policies in Denmark in recent years has been rethought in light of globalisation, migration and digitalisation. The cultural discussion to day is to a high degree focusing on what constitutes "danishness", Danish cultural heritage and national identity as coherent narratives in a multicultural world.