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Demokratiskolan
The Culture & arts card from MethodKit for Society and Politics
Card 57 of 128 · MethodKit for Society & Politics
  • AreaCulture & everyday life
  • Centre of gravityThe municipality
  • Points of influence3 on the journey
  • Decisive electionThe municipal election
Culture & everyday life

Culture & arts

Different types of artistic expressions

The library, the school of culture, the art gallery and the independent theatre group live in a system where three levels share the bill. The central government distributes through the Swedish Arts Council (Kulturrådet), the regions distribute onward according to their cultural plans, and the municipalities run most of what you actually visit. The public library is even required by law.

Where does the power lie?1

  • Municipality · library, school of culture & stages · approx 40 %
  • Region · cultural plan & regional funds · approx 25 %
  • State · culture budget & national stages · approx 30 %
  • EU · culture programmes & project funds · approx 5 %

The municipality provides the culture you meet most often, from the library to the school of culture. The municipal election decides the most in everyday life, but the central government's culture budget sets the frames of the system.

How it works: the breakdown

The municipalityEveryday culture · centre of gravity
The regionThe distributor
Central governmentThe frames & the Arts Council
Who decides?
The municipal council (kommunfullmäktige) and the culture committee.
The regional council (regionfullmäktige) and the region's culture committee.
The Riksdag, the Government, the Swedish Arts Council (Kulturrådet) and the Swedish Arts Grants Committee (Konstnärsnämnden).
What do they decide?
The public library, which is required by law, plus the school of culture, art galleries, stages and grants to associations.
The regional cultural plan and the distribution of central government and regional funds to regional theatres, museums, music and independent groups.
The culture budget, the cultural cooperation model, support to independent groups and artists, plus national stages and museums.
Where are decisions made?
In the culture committee and in the municipality's budget. The documents are public.
In the cultural plan, which is drawn up in consultation with municipalities and the cultural sector.
In the Riksdag's culture budget and in the Arts Council's distribution decisions.
Who pays?
The municipal tax carries the library, the school of culture and a large share of all public culture.
The regional tax plus the central government pot from the cultural cooperation model.
The central government budget, distributed through the Arts Council and directly to national institutions.
Fastest way in?
Municipal election Contact with the culture committee, association applications, citizen's proposals (medborgarförslag) in many municipalities.
Regional election Consultation on the cultural plan, dialogue meetings with the region's culture committee.
General election The general election sets the culture budget. Cultural policy inquiries go out on referral.
EUThe EU has little formal power over Swedish cultural policy but co-finances projects through the Creative Europe (Kreativa Europa) programme. Influenced in the European Parliament election.

Read the table by column to understand one level, or by row to compare the levels. The green level is the area's centre of gravity.

How it works: follow the decision

The case An independent theatre group gets funded
  1. State

    The Riksdag sets the culture budget

    The culture budget is decided every autumn. Part goes directly to national stages, part to the Arts Council, which supports independent groups, and part is placed in the cultural cooperation model's pot for the regions.

    Point of influence

    The general election decides the size and direction of the culture budget.

  2. State

    The Arts Council distributes to the independent cultural sector

    The theatre group applies for operating support from the Arts Council, where expert reference groups assess artistic quality. The competition is tough and the decisions steer the group's whole year.

  3. Region

    The region distributes onward according to the cultural plan

    The region receives the central government's pot through the cultural cooperation model and adds its own money on top. The cultural plan, drawn up in consultation with municipalities and the cultural sector, decides what is prioritised.

    Point of influence

    The cultural plan goes out on consultation before it is decided. Both the cultural sector and the public can submit comments.

  4. Municipality

    The municipality provides the stage and the everyday support

    The culture committee can give premises support or operating support, and the municipality's stages host the performances. Without a place to play, no central government grants help.

    Point of influence

    The culture committee's documents are public, and in many municipalities you can submit a citizen's proposal (medborgarförslag) about culture.

  5. Your everyday life

    The curtain goes up in your neighbourhood

    The performance you watch on a Thursday evening is funded in three steps: central government support, regional funds and a municipal stage. The ticket price covers only a part.

The journey looks the same in reverse: what has been built came the same way, through the same decisions. Whoever knows where the decisions are made also knows where they can be changed.

Questions to discuss

  1. The library is required by law but the school of culture is not. Where should the line be drawn for what a municipality must offer?

  2. What would happen to the cultural life where you live if the municipality's support disappeared?

  3. Who should decide which art gets public support: politicians, experts or the audience?

  4. Are an evening at the opera and a library visit worth the same to society?

  5. What culture is missing in your municipality, and who would you turn to in order to change that?

Glossary

Kultursamverkansmodellen
The system where the Arts Council gives the regions central government culture funds that they distribute onward according to their cultural plan.
Bibliotekslagen
A law requiring every municipality to have a public library where borrowing literature is free of charge.
Kulturplan
The region's multi-year plan for culture, drawn up in consultation and the basis for how the funds are distributed.
Fri grupp
A theatre, dance or music group that is not publicly owned but often applies for public support.
Verksamhetsbidrag
Support to an organisation's ongoing work rather than to a single project.

Go further

Footnotes

1) This is an estimate of how decision-making power over the issue is split between the municipality, the region, central government and the EU, based on how responsibility is divided in legislation. A teaching guide, not an exact measurement.