A detailed introduction to the British "arm's length" cultural management model, such as its introduction time, process, operation methods, etc.

What is the "arm's length" cultural management principle?

The "Arm's Length Principle" management principle is a set of cultural management methods invented by the British. It has long been regarded by the British government as a magic weapon for cultural management and is believed to be able to effectively avoid partisan political tendencies. The undesirable impact of cultural funding policies, ensuring that cultural funding is allocated to those most qualified.

The so-called "arm's length" originally meant that a person kept the same distance from his partners in front, behind, left, and right in a queue. This principle was first used in the economic field, targeting some economic organizations with subordinate relationships, such as parent companies and subsidiaries, manufacturers and distributors, etc. According to this principle, these organizations have equal legal status in planning and implementing their respective marketing plans, handling interest disputes, and even tax obligations. One party cannot replace or dominate the other.

The application of the "arm's length" principle to cultural policy requires the state to adopt a decentralized administrative management system for culture. From centralized management of culture to decentralized management, this is the basic essence of the "arm's length" principle. The Ministry of Culture, Information and Sports, the cultural administrative department of the British central government, only formulates cultural policies and financial allocations. It does not have direct jurisdiction over cultural and art groups and cultural institutions. The specific management affairs are handed over to intermediary non-governmental public organizations. Agencies, that is, various arts councils are responsible for implementation, such as the Arts Council England, Arts and Crafts Council, Museums and Galleries Council and other bodies composed of experts to evaluate and fund arts groups. Various intermediary non-governmental public cultural institutions are responsible for funding and contacting cultural and artistic groups, institutions and individuals in various cultural fields across the country through specific allocation of funds, forming a network system for the management of cultural undertakings in the whole society.

There are two types of non-governmental public cultural institutions in the UK, including 38 non-governmental public institutions (with the functions of executing, managing, formulating regulations and engaging in commercial activities) and 8 non-governmental public institutions. Government public advisory body (providing advice to ministers and competent authorities on certain specialized matters). In addition to obtaining funds mainly from the Ministry of Culture, Information and Sports, most non-governmental public cultural institutions also obtain income through charging fees or engaging in other commercial activities. The Ministry of Culture, Information and Sports coordinates policies with non-governmental public cultural institutions through funding, but there is no administrative leadership relationship. Non-governmental public cultural institutions adhere to the principle of keeping an "arm's length" from the government and operate independently.

Although the government cannot directly provide financial support to cultural institutions, it can coordinate policies with non-governmental public cultural institutions through specific allocations to reflect the government's management goals and support priorities for culture and art. . The British government's funding for cultural undertakings generally focuses on three aspects: first, serious arts, such as drama, classical music, opera, ballet, etc., while commercial arts such as musicals, popular songs and dances are not funded; second, national-level Key literary and artistic groups and institutions, such as the Royal Opera House, Royal Ballet, British Museum, British Library, National Gallery, etc.; third, high-quality art programs. In the UK, there are only government-funded art troupes, but no government-run art troupes; there are national-level art troupes, but no state-owned art troupes. For art groups, government funding is not fixed and needs to be determined based on annual performance and next year’s plans. Even groups or institutions that enjoy long-term government funding generally only account for about 30% of their income, and the rest It still needs to be solved by oneself. In order to ensure that government funding achieves good results, the Arts Council uses various methods to supervise and evaluate cultural groups that enjoy long-term government funding.

The benefits of implementing the "arm's length" principle are threefold: First, it reduces the administrative affairs of government agencies and ensures the efficient operation of government work; second, government agencies do not have direct relations with literary and artistic groups. It is conducive to inspection and supervision and avoids corruption. Third, non-governmental public cultural institutions are independent from the government and are non-governmental, non-party independent intermediary organizations. The members of such organizations are mostly composed of neutral experts in art and cultural industries. They perform their functions independently and avoid excessive government administrative interference, so as to maintain the continuity of cultural development as much as possible.

Under the guidance of this management principle, Britain has maintained its status as a cultural power. Whether it is literature, drama, dance, art or music, it has always maintained an international leading position and has profoundly influenced other countries. cultural and artistic creation and development.

Some inspirations brought to us by the "arm's length" cultural management principle

Our country has rich cultural and artistic resources and is a veritable cultural country, but it is not yet a cultural country. China is a powerful country, and because the government has long interfered too much in cultural and artistic activities and has too much control, the ideological bias in the field of culture and art is too strong, which has affected other countries' recognition of our culture and art. If we can draw on the "arm's length" principle and highlight the relative independence of culture and art from the institutional design, it can generate stronger affinity and be more easily accepted by other cultures, which will help establish the image of our country as a cultural power.

1. The "arm's length" principle can fully realize the transformation of government functions and achieve the goal of "separation of management and office"

Although it has gone through many rounds of cultural system reforms, at present, our country The pattern of "government-run culture" has not been fundamentally broken. For example, key art performance groups affiliated to the Ministry of Culture, as well as provincial and municipal art performance groups, are still government-run cultural institutions in nature, and their finances are mainly provided by the government. Responsible for support, the main personnel arrangements are still made by the government administrative department. Drawing reference from the "arm's length" principle in the macro-management of the performing arts industry and establishing an "Arts Council" mechanism similar to that in the UK, this should be the direction of my country's efforts to transform government functions and achieve the goal of "separation of management and management." In this way, the government will no longer directly manage any literary and art troupes, nor will it specifically undertake cultural and artistic activities. The government can be liberated from trivial specific affairs and devote itself entirely to formulating cultural development policies and promoting the development of culture and art through macro-control. and prosperity.

2. The "arm's length" principle is conducive to realizing freedom of cultural and artistic creation, and fundamentally realizing cultural development and prosperity

China has a long tradition of imperial autocratic power, ideas and Art has been imprisoned for a long time. From the 1950s to the Cultural Revolution, the "subordination of art to politics" prevailed in China, and artists' creations were suppressed for a long time. Over the past 30 years of reform and opening up, my country has produced some fine works in the art field, but the number is not large, which is very inconsistent with its status as a country with large cultural resources. The vitality of art lies in the ideological and originality of art. Autonomy in artistic creation is also a basic requirement of a civilized society. One of the government's responsibilities is to protect this right from being infringed. Therefore, cultural and artistic activities should be given more freedom and the "content non-interference principle" should be implemented in cultural and artistic creation. The intermediary non-governmental public cultural institutions established through the "arm's length" model will help artistic creation get rid of the interference and influence of government power, fully protect artistic freedom, and fundamentally achieve cultural development and prosperity.

3. The "arm's length" principle can effectively prevent "power rent-seeking" in the cultural field and avoid power corruption

"Power rent-seeking" refers to those who hold public power A non-productive activity that uses power as a bargaining chip to obtain its own economic interests. The benefits brought by power rent-seeking have become the driving force behind power corruption. According to the "arm's length" principle, the power of cultural management is specifically exercised by the Arts Committee. The Arts Committee is composed of experts. It is not the government that has the final say which art groups are outstanding, which art varieties and works of art need support, but the Arts Committee. Experts have the final say, so that the government has no specific power over cultural affairs, thus eliminating power rent-seeking and corruption from the root.

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