Rhetoric and reality: Examining the policy-practice interface of European and Irish arts policy (Pre-published version)

Abstract

This paper addresses European and Irish arts and cultural policy as both a form of ‘rhetoric’, or policy intention and ‘reality’, viewed as policy enactment. Taking a sociocultural view, social, economic, cultural and political values cannot be separated from written policies. This paper through a policy analysis identifies both macro and micro perspectives to illuminate and problematise policy surrounding Irish arts communities. The macropolicy analysis aims to contextualise the “official perspective” (Bogdan & Biklen, 2007, p. 128) of Irish arts communities through a policy document analysis of key European Union (EU), Irish and local arts and cultural policies. The micro policy document analysis seeks to narrow the gap between rhetoric (policy intention) and reality (policy enactment). Elite interviews with four policymakers illuminated how policies were interpreted and mediated at both national and local levels in practice or ‘reality’.