Law on cultural schools

The party programme explicitly requires that cultural schools receive statutory support and that library law be tightened, and that culture's role be enshrined in law as a public responsibility area similar to schools. The election manifesto sees culture as part of welfare that should exist across the country. A framework law for municipal cultural schools is thus exactly what the plan demands, contrary to the committee's assessment that law is not needed.

• statutory cultural schoolsdecisive»Kulturskolan ska få lagmässigt stöd och bibliotekslagen ska skärpas« (party programme ↗)“Cultural schools should receive statutory support and library law should be tightened”
• culture enshrined in law as public responsibility»Lagen ska slå fast att kulturen är ett offentligt ansvarsområde i likhet med skolan, socialtjänsten eller försvaret« (party programme ↗)“The law should state that culture is a public responsibility area similar to schools, social services or defence”
• 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 deprioritized locally»Även kulturen och idrotten har utarmats när skolbibliotek läggs ned, simskolan blivit dyrare och biografer finns på färre orter« (2022 manifesto ↗)“Culture and sports have also been depleted as school libraries close, swimming schools become more expensive and cinemas exist in fewer places”

The plan wants to strengthen cultural schooling to ensure all children's opportunities for cultural activities, and the party programme establishes that music schools and cultural schools shall be accessible to all children and that cultural institutions shall exist throughout the country. A framework law that gives cultural schooling long-term protection against local deprioritization is a means for exactly this. The plan requires no legislation, however, so the stance is derived.

• strengthened cultural schoolingdecisive»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 cultural schooling to ensure all children's opportunities for cultural activities, and carry out special initiatives in resource-poor areas.”
• cultural schooling for all children»Biblioteken ska vara avgiftsfria. Musikskolor och kulturskolor« (party programme ↗)“Libraries shall be free of charge. Music schools and cultural schools”
• cultural life throughout the country»Institutioner för det professionella kulturlivet ska därför finnas över hela landet.« (party programme ↗)“Institutions for the professional cultural life shall therefore exist throughout the country.”
• finances should not determine»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 regarding sports and culture, needs to increase. Parents' finances should not determine.”

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 explicitly promises to strengthen culture school and establish a culture school act. It also wants all children to be able to pursue culture within some form of culture school regardless of family finances, and it already uses legislation to guarantee the existence and quality of libraries. A framework act for municipal culture school is therefore exactly the plan's commitment.

• culture school actdecisive»stärka kulturskolan och inrätta en kulturskolelag« (2022 manifesto ↗)“strengthen culture school and establish a culture school act”
• culture school regardless of financial circumstances»Alla barn ska ha möjlighet att utöva« (party programme ↗)“All children should have the opportunity to pursue”
• culture activities enshrined in law»förekomst och kvalitet ska garanteras i lag« (party programme ↗)“existence and quality shall be guaranteed by law”
• children's culture protected»Barns kultur ska särskilt värnas« (2022 manifesto ↗)“Children's culture should be particularly protected”

The plan wants culture to be available throughout the country, but its decisive principle is that decisions concerning a local level shall not be moved upwards and that power shall be decentralized. A state framework law requiring municipalities to offer cultural schools does the opposite. The party programme also establishes that equality does not mean uniformity and that different parts of the country shall be able to find their own solutions, which is why the plan does not support a cultural school law.

• local decisions stay localdecisive»Beslut som endast berör en mer lokal nivå, eller bara individen själv, bör inte flyttas upp till en högre nivå« (party programme ↗)“Decisions that only concern a more local level, or only the individual, should not be moved up to a higher level”
• decentralization»Decentralisera mera. Människor ska få bestämma mer själva, och politiska beslut ska fattas nära dem som berörs.« (2022 manifesto ↗)“Decentralize further. People shall get to decide more for themselves, and political decisions shall be made close to those affected.”
• equality without uniformity»Rättvisa handlar om jämlikhet, men inte likformighet.« (party programme ↗)“Justice is about equality, but not uniformity.”
• culture throughout the country»Att tillhandahålla kultur i hela landet är en viktig utgångspunkt för Centerpartiet.« (2022 manifesto ↗)“Making culture available throughout the country is an important starting point for the Centre Party.”

The plan has its own answer to the quality of music schools: it should be secured through a national knowledge center, not through new framework legislation. The plan's basic cultural policy stance is also that the state should govern less and that quality is defined by the profession. The requirement for cultural school legislation therefore lies outside the plan's line, even though the plan shares the ambition that children and young people should have access to culture.

• knowledge center, not legislationdecisive»kvaliteten i kulturskolan ska säkras genom skapandet av ett nationellt kunskapscentrum.« (party programme ↗)“the quality of music schools should be secured through the creation of a national knowledge center.”
• the state should govern less»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 govern less and for cultural creators, not politicians, to make the decisions about support.”
• quality defined by the profession»Kulturpolitiken ska sträva efter kvalitet.« (party programme ↗)“Cultural policy should strive for quality.”
• culture for children and young people»Sverige ska vara ett föredöme på området kultur av och för barn och ungdomar.« (party programme ↗)“Sweden should be a model in the field of culture by and for children and young people.”

The party programme makes the subsidiarity principle guiding for the state's and municipalities' approach to cultural activities and requires strong municipal self-government, with the burden of proof on the higher level that wants to take over a lower community's task. A state framework law requiring municipalities to provide school of culture activities conflicts with this, even though the plan wants culture to be accessible to everyone.

• subsidiarity in cultural policydecisive»Vägledande för statens, kommunernas och landstingens/regionernas förhållningssätt till den kulturella verksamheten ska vara subsidiaritetsprincipen.« (party programme ↗)“Guiding for the state's, municipalities' and county councils'/regions' approach to cultural activities shall be the subsidiarity principle.”
• strong municipal self-government»Den kommunala självstyrelsen ska vara stark och tydligt reglerad i grundlagen.« (party programme ↗)“Municipal self-government shall be strong and clearly regulated in the constitution.”
• burden of proof in takeover»Om en överordnad gemenskap vill överta en funktion från en underordnad ligger bevisbördan för bättre ändamålsenlighet« (party programme ↗)“If a superior community wants to take over a function from a subordinate, the burden of proof for better appropriateness”
• culture shall reach citizens»Det offentliga ska inte bara garantera kulturell frihet, utan också aktivt bidra till att kulturen kommer medborgarna till del.« (party programme ↗)“The public shall not only guarantee cultural freedom, but also actively contribute to making culture accessible to citizens.”

flags: citat_migrerat

The plan contains no commitment to a cultural school law. Its cultural policy starting point is that public funding and political ambitions represent a risk, and its view of governance is that municipalities shall be able to choose different paths according to their conditions. Together with the demand that policy shall prioritise and choose to omit, this speaks against a new national framework law binding municipalities' cultural school activities.

• municipal self-determinationdecisive»tillåta att olika regioner och kommuner väljer« (party programme ↗)“allow different regions and municipalities to choose”
• risk of political cultural governance»offentlig finansiering och politiska ambitioner utgör en risk« (party programme ↗)“public funding and political ambitions represent a risk”
• political prioritisation»Politiken har en viktig uppgift att prioritera och välja bort« (party programme ↗)“Policy has an important task to prioritise and choose to omit”
• reforms can wait»Vi vet vad som måste göras – och vad som får vänta.« (2022 manifesto ↗)“We know what must be done – and what can wait.”

The plan's cultural policy line is to reduce the state's economic control over culture, protect institutions' freedom from political guidelines, and give citizens greater influence over cultural resources, while municipal self-determination is central. A national framework law that requires municipalities to operate cultural school goes in the opposite direction. The plan says nothing about the committee's reasoning that existing state initiatives already enable children's cultural participation.

• mindre offentlig kulturstyrningdecisive»Minska det offentligas ekonomiska kontroll över samtidskulturen och mediesfären« (2022 manifesto ↗)“Reduce the state's economic control over contemporary culture and the media sphere”
• kommunalt självbestämmande»Vi betraktar det kommunala självbestämmandet som en central del av demokratin« (party programme ↗)“We regard municipal self-determination as a central part of democracy”
• medborgarinflytande över kulturmedel»Fördela offentliga kulturmedel och utforma offentliga miljöer med ett större medborgarinflytande« (2022 manifesto ↗)“Distribute public cultural resources and shape public environments with greater citizen influence”
• frihet från politisk styrning»Samtidigt ska oberoende kulturinstitutioners frihet från politiska pekpinnar värnas.« (2022 manifesto ↗)“At the same time, independent cultural institutions' freedom from political guidelines shall be protected.”