Participation in cultural legislation

ABSTRACT

This article examines the recent legislative process concerning the funding of cultural institutions in Finland. The drafting of the bill was opened up to participation by artists and other professionals and facilitated by an outside partner. The text draws on research conducted to evaluate the participatory element in the law-drafting, and further analyses it in the wider framework of participatory decision-making and governance. The research shows that within the confined scope of the participatory phase of the law-drafting, the deliberative process succeeded in creating positive experiences of participation. However, set in the wider framework of the legislation, the effect of participation remains limited. A notion of ‘placebo participation’ is suggested to explain this perceived empowerment despite a lack of strong evidence for effective participation. The process is further interpreted in terms of incompatibility of interests between political participation and institutionally led participatory governance.