Cultural democracy in cultural policy: contestations and democratic ideal types

Cultural democracy has become a widely used concept in cultural policy, often presented as an alternative to the democratization of culture and associated with pluralism, participation, and citizen influence over cultural life. Despite its growing prominence, the concept remains theoretically underdeveloped and is rarely connected systematically to broader democratic theory. This article argues that cultural democracy is best understood as an essentially contested concept characterized by competing democratic assumptions and normative commitments. Drawing on qualitative conceptual analysis of key cultural policy texts, the article examines how cultural democracy is articulated across academic and policy discourse. Using democratic theory as an analytical lens, it identifies four ideal types of cultural democracy: liberal, expressive, deliberative, and transformative. Each ideal type reflects distinct understandings of pluralism, participation, equality, freedom, and the role of cultural policy. The analysis demonstrates that cultural democracy does not constitute a coherent paradigm but rather a field of contestation structured by different democratic traditions.