Home > Policy > White Paper, Notice, Announcement > White Paper > Japanese Government Policies in Education, Science, Sports and Culture 2000 > Part 1 Chapter 4 Section 2 1

In the United States, the functions of government, particularly the federal government, have traditionally been limited. In addition, it is considered the natural role of the rich to return to society the wealth they have built up in the form of donations. These characteristics also pertain to cultural administration. Regarding the promotion and preservation of the arts, assistance efforts by private citizens and organizations, including the collection of works of art, the building of museums, concert halls and other buildings, and the offering of economic assistance to artists by wealthy individuals such as Andrew Carnegie and Andrew Mellon, have been standard practice. On the other hand, the cultural role of the federal government has centered on measures that indirectly support culture, through the formulation of various measures, including favorable tax measures, in order to encourage and assist these contributions. Because of this tradition and the federal system itself, no department or agency in charge of cultural administration has been established in the federal government.

However, in 1965, the National Foundation on the Arts and the Humanities, an independent agency, was formed from the standpoint that there was a need for inquiry and coordination functions for national projects in arts, culture and the humanities. Under this Foundation, the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) was set up as federal government agency with the goal of public support for the arts and cultural activities. The NEA's budget is allocated from the national budget, and the NEA is the central instrument for the promotion of the arts and culture and the preservation of culture carried out by the federal government.

There are also culture facilities that have been set up as independent cultural organizations by the federal government. These include the Smithsonian Institution, the National Gallery of Art, and the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts.

Assistance for cultural activities by local governments centers on NEA subsidies and arts councils of non-profit organizations that are operated by the budgets of state government and through private contributions. They provide support toward the expansion of opportunities for promotion of and enjoyment of the arts in each region. The states of New York and North Carolina have a longer history of providing subsidies that does the NEA. In addition, there are county and city arts councils that exist under the state arts councils. These local arts councils receive operating subsidies from the state arts council while working with the state and other local governments to provide a wide range of subsidies.

Regarding administration for protecting cultural assets as well, the system of distribution of powers to local governments is in place. The federal government is in charge of the preservation of important historic monuments and property considered by the Justice Department, etc., as items that should be protected from the standpoint of the country as a whole; the preservation of monuments that exist on land owned by the federal government; and the protection of buried cultural properties. Excluding these examples and others, the states handle a wide range of areas.

Public expenditures for the promotion of the arts and culture in the U.S. are shown in Table 1-4-3 .

Table 1-4-3 Public Expenditures for the Promotion of the Arts and Culture in the U.S. (2000)