The Scottish Arts Council 1967 - 2007: arts governance and national identity. A historical analysis of cultural policymaking.

Through a historical examination of the Scottish Arts Council (SAC) over the period 1967 - 2007, the research investigates the relationship between culture and national identity and how this has been understood, expressed and reflected in policy towards the arts in Scotland. The purpose is to inform current academic and policy debates surrounding arts and culture with historical evidence about arts governance: debates about the creative industries and cultural policy and the tensions between these; the changing nature of the arms length principle; and the relationship of culture to national identity. The study takes place during a transitional period in arts governance in which these issues have found a sharp focus, with a new institution, Creative Scotland, being proposed to replace the Scottish Arts Council and Scottish Screen.

The study period covers the establishment of SAC under Royal Charter, its devolution from the Arts Council of Great Britain to the Scottish Office in 1994, and after 1999 to the devolved Scottish government. These constitutional disjunctions provide a structured time frame for the study of policy change. The main methods will be archival and documentary review and interviews with key actors, with the latter concentrating on the most recent episodes of constitutional change during the period 1994 - 2007. The study is framed by the dominant philosophical traditions and values of UK arts governance, by theories of national identity and the role of institutions, and by Scotland's constitutional position, both before and after devolution, as a nation without a state and with a duality of national identities.

Specifically the research will investigate how SAC has conceived of the 'national' in its policymaking and funding; the question of the 'arms length' principle and the degree of political autonomy that has existed in Scottish arts governance; SAC's own role in relation to national identity in a Scottish context and how this has been perceived both inside and outside the institution; and the extent to which culture and national identity have been an area of contest in SAC policy and funding decisions.