Abstract

In 2013, the Council of Europe's Conference of Ministers of Culture requested the development of an indicator framework on culture's contribution to democracy and on the economic efficiency of financing culture. The work carried out in 2014/2015 by the Hertie School of Governance (HSG) led to the Indicator Framework on Culture and Democracy (IFCD). The aim of the IFCD is to enable policymakers both to examine their own position in terms of culture and democracy and to compare it with other countries. Moreover, it can support them in making decisions for policy optimisation. At the end of 2015, the HSG delivered a first thematic report showing that countries with high cultural participation rates also show high levels of interpersonal trust among their people. The launch of the definitive IFCD will be on October 2016.