User Participation and Quality in Cultural Policy
The ongoing debate on quality will always be a pivotal point for cultural policy
legitimacy in democratic societies. Regardless the aim of the policy, questions
related to quality will arise: What is an appropriate concept of quality for public
funded art and culture? And why should we use the taxpayers´ money for this
area? It is a hallmark of the quality debate that it is actualized when we can
observe changes in the cultural policy field. Thus, in the wake of discussions
about cultural democracy or the economic potential of art and culture the
question of quality becomes more present. Today, user participation or user
involvement has become a new trend in cultural policy. Young people are
invited to be co-creators of theatrical performances, cultural history museums
are asking citizens for help to collect local heritage and libraries allow users to
organize events and workshops. Participation is hereby a diverse phenomenon,
but all approaches have in common that the cultural institutions more or less are
forced to supplement a one-way communication with an increased dialogue
with the users. It is the point of departure for this article that the described
changes in public funded cultural communication require a renewed debate on
quality in cultural policy. The first part of the article is an examination of the
concept user participation, while the second part is a discussion of quality in
cultural policy in relation to user participation. Here, a central question is
whether the quality of user participation in cultural policy can be covered by
the already established understandings of quality or if the concept of quality
should be redefined when it comes to user participation.