The issue of cultural democracy and the importance of grassroots associations and the public policies that could consolidate it are central challenges for the deepening of Portuguese society and democracy. Published in the journal Análise Associativa, this introductory article aims to open up research horizons on the relationship between what is enshrined in the Constitution of the Portuguese Republic in relation to culture as a public good, owned by and for all, and the means for its effective realisation, namely through grassroots associations and appropriate public policies.
Although the objectives of cultural production are not exhausted in this relational triangle of cultural democracy-popular associations-public policies, these factors are presented as essential for a more diverse, fair, inclusive and integral cultural development.The article begins by discussing the various options of varying geometry that societies can take between cultural democratisation and/or cultural democracy, a discussion that marks the main contemporary cultural options, as well as the role that the Portuguese associative context currently plays.
The National Survey of Culture, Recreation and Sport Associations serves as the article’s main methodological tool and is the basis for a more accurate understanding of cultural practices in Portuguese grassroots associations, as well as for some reflection on the problems and obstacles facing a cultural association policy in Portugal.
