Culture for children and young people

The party programme establishes that all shall have the same right and opportunity to participate in cultural life and that a state cultural policy shall guarantee equitable distribution across the country. A national cultural guarantee for children's and young people's access to performing arts is precisely such a state equality commitment. The election manifesto emphasizes that culture is part of welfare and should exist throughout the country.

• state-guaranteed equalitydecisive»En statlig kulturpolitik ska garantera en demokratiskt likvärdig« (party programme ↗)“A state cultural policy shall guarantee democratically equitable”
• equal right to culture»Alla ska ha samma rätt och möjlighet att utöva kultur och att ta del« (party programme ↗)“All shall have the same right and opportunity to practice culture and to participate”
• culture as welfare»Kulturen spelar en viktig roll och är en del av välfärden.« (2022 manifesto ↗)“Culture plays an important role and is part of welfare.”
• culture throughout the country»Det är viktigt att kulturen står fri från såväl kommersiell som politisk styrning och finns i hela landet.« (2022 manifesto ↗)“It is important that culture stands free from both commercial and political control and exists throughout the country.”

The plan wants to strengthen arts education to secure all children's access to cultural activities and make special investments in resource-poor areas, and establishes that the forms of cultural expression shall be accessible to all children throughout the country. The counter-proposal's cultural guarantee is a way to address precisely the unequal access the plan opposes. The fact that parents' wallet should not determine access points in the same direction.

• all children's access to culturedecisive»Vi vill stärka kulturskolan för att säkra alla barns möjligheter till kulturella aktiviteter, och genomföra särskilda satsningar i resurssvaga områden.« (2022 manifesto ↗)“We want to strengthen arts education to secure all children's access to cultural activities, and implement special initiatives in resource-poor areas.”
• culture accessible throughout the country»konstens olika uttrycksformer tillgängliga för alla, barn och vuxna, i hela landet« (party programme ↗)“the various forms of artistic expression accessible to all, children and adults, throughout the country”
• culture independent of wallet»Tillgången till fritidsaktiviteter till rimliga kostnader, både vad gäller idrott och kultur, behöver öka. Föräldrarnas plånbok ska inte avgöra.« (2022 manifesto ↗)“Access to leisure activities at reasonable costs, both for sports and culture, needs to increase. Parents' wallet shall not determine access.”

The election manifesto wants to strengthen cultural schools and establish a culture school act and invest in children's culture in schools. The party programme establishes that everyone shall be able to engage in and take part in culture on equal terms. A national culture guarantee that gives all children continuous access to professional performing arts and their own creative work during school time is precisely such a legislated equality measure.

• legislated cultural schoolsdecisive»stärka kulturskolan och inrätta en kulturskolelag.« (2022 manifesto ↗)“strengthen cultural schools and establish a culture school act.”
• children's culture in schools»satsa på barns kultur i skolan, med utbildad personal på alla skolbibliotek och estetiska ämnen i alla gymnasieprogram.« (2022 manifesto ↗)“invest in children's culture in schools, with trained staff in all school libraries and aesthetic subjects in all upper secondary programmes.”
• equal access to culture»utöva och ta del av kultur på jämlika villkor.« (party programme ↗)“engage in and take part in culture on equal terms.”
• cultural schools important for children»Kultur- och musikskolor samt skolor och studieförbund i landets kommuner är viktiga för att barn« (party programme ↗)“Culture and music schools as well as schools and study associations in the country's municipalities are important for children”

The stance rests on the quoted commitment in the party's own documents; the actual vote deviated. Click the quote to verify it in the document.

The plan makes access to culture throughout the country an explicit starting point and requires that state cultural institutions distribute their activities across the country. A cultural guarantee that gives all children continuous access to performing arts during school time fulfils that commitment against today's unequal access. The guarantee concerns access, not content, and therefore does not conflict with the principle of arm's length distance.

• culture throughout the countrydecisive»Att tillhandahålla kultur i hela landet är en viktig utgångspunkt för Centerpartiet. Kulturen ska vara fri och oberoende, idrotten jämlik och inkluderande.« (2022 manifesto ↗)“To provide culture throughout the country is an important starting point for the Centre Party. Culture should be free and independent, sport equal and inclusive.”
• distributed state cultural activity»Statliga kulturinstitutioner ska sprida sin verksamhet i hela landet.« (party programme ↗)“State cultural institutions should distribute their activities throughout the country.”
• arm's length distance to the content»Politiken ska bidra till goda förutsättningar men hålla armlängds avstånd.« (2022 manifesto ↗)“Politics should contribute to good conditions but maintain arm's length distance.”

The plan takes no explicit position on what the committee actually decided — often because the committee's reason was procedural. The stance is derived and fully cited, but it does not show the party broke a commitment.

The plan wants Sweden to be an exemplar when it comes to culture of and for children and young people and wants culture to take a larger place in school, and wants the public sector to increase access to culture for the entire population. A cultural guarantee giving all pupils access to professional stage art answers to that commitment. The plan's demands that the state should steer less concern culture's content, not accessibility, and therefore do not prevent the support.

• culture for children and young peopledecisive»Sverige ska vara ett föredöme på området kultur av och för barn och ungdomar.« (party programme ↗)“Sweden shall be an exemplar in the field of culture of and for children and young people.”
• increased cultural accessibility»Det offentliga ska på alla nivåer gynna mångfalden av kulturuttryck, öka kulturens tillgänglighet« (party programme ↗)“The public sector shall at all levels promote the diversity of cultural expression, increase access to culture”
• culture in school for everyone»Alla barn och elever ska få läsa både svenska och internationella skönlitterära klassiker i skolan.« (2022 manifesto ↗)“All children and pupils shall read both Swedish and international literary classics in school.”
• culture's independence»Därför vill vi att staten ska styra mindre och att det ska vara kulturskapare och inte politiker som fattar besluten om stöd.« (2022 manifesto ↗)“Therefore we want the state to steer less and it shall be culture creators and not politicians who make decisions about support.”

The plan takes no explicit position on what the committee actually decided — often because the committee's reason was procedural. The stance is derived and fully cited, but it does not show the party broke a commitment.

The election manifesto explicitly prioritizes society's youngest, and the party programme attributes to culture a unique intrinsic value that shall not be limited to a defined sphere and sees a rich cultural life as democracy-vitalizing. A national guarantee for children's access to professional stage art lies in that direction. Meanwhile the subsidiarity principle counsels caution with national steering of municipalities' cultural activities, so the certainty is low.

• prioritize old and youngdecisive»Vi prioriterar samhällets äldsta och yngsta, dem som inte längre orkar höja sin röst eller ännu inte lärt sig att använda den.« (2022 manifesto ↗)“We prioritize society's oldest and youngest, those who no longer can raise their voice or have not yet learned to use it.”
• culture's intrinsic value»har den ett unikt egenvärde och får inte begränsas till en avgränsad sfär« (party programme ↗)“it has a unique intrinsic value and shall not be limited to a defined sphere”
• culture vitalizes democracy»Ett rikt kulturliv vitaliserar även demokratin.« (party programme ↗)“A rich cultural life also vitalizes democracy.”
• subsidiarity in cultural decisions»Rätt makt på rätt plats« (party programme ↗)“Right power in the right place”

The plan takes no explicit position on what the committee actually decided — often because the committee's reason was procedural. The stance is derived and fully cited, but it does not show the party broke a commitment.

The plan contains no commitment to a national cultural guarantee and instead states that politics must prioritize and choose to reject when the justice system, defence and welfare place great demands. A new national commitment to guarantee all children continuous stage art throughout their school time is an expanded state mandate of the kind the documents warn against. Decisions should moreover be made as close to citizens as possible.

• politics must prioritizedecisive»Politiken har en viktig uppgift att prioritera och välja bort,« (party programme ↗)“Politics has an important task to prioritize and choose to reject,”
• core mission comes first»De stora behoven inom rättsväsendet, försvaret och välfärden ställer stora krav på prioriteringar under åren som kommer.« (2022 manifesto ↗)“The large needs within the justice system, defence and welfare place great demands on priorities in the years to come.”
• limited state commitment»En stor stat leder till ett svagare samhälle.« (party programme ↗)“A large state leads to a weaker society.”
• reforms must wait»Vi vet vad som måste göras – och vad som får vänta.« (2022 manifesto ↗)“We know what needs to be done – and what can wait.”

The plan's cultural policy line is to reduce the public sector's economic control over contemporary culture and distribute cultural funds with greater citizen influence, that is closer to citizens rather than through a national guarantee. The plan also wants to focus on the core of welfare rather than new public commitments. The party programme's financing principle speaks against new state commitments that burden municipalities. The counter-proposal's demand for a national cultural guarantee thus goes against the plan.

• less public cultural steeringdecisive»Minska det offentligas ekonomiska kontroll över samtidskulturen och mediesfären« (2022 manifesto ↗)“Reduce the public sector's economic control over contemporary culture and media sphere”
• cultural funds closer to citizens»Fördela offentliga kulturmedel och utforma offentliga miljöer med ett större medborgarinflytande« (2022 manifesto ↗)“Distribute public cultural funds and shape public environments with greater citizen influence”
• welfare before prestige projects»Satsa på välfärden istället för politiska prestigeprojekt« (2022 manifesto ↗)“Focus on welfare instead of political prestige projects”
• municipal financing principle»Staten bör aldrig fatta beslut om nya kostnadsdrivande åtaganden för kommunerna utan att fullt ut kompensera dem för kostnaderna.« (party programme ↗)“The state should never make decisions about new cost-driving commitments for municipalities without fully compensating them for the costs.”