Autonomy and dependence in state cultural policy: a case study of the foundation culture of the future in Sweden

The article uses the case of a major state‐sponsored cultural policy institution in Sweden, the Foundation Culture of the Future (Stiftelsen framtidens kultur), to show how tension between institutional autonomy and state dependence can be dealt with creatively by foundations seeking both autonomy and legitimacy from the state and other actors. The article argues that that the Foundation (FCF) has developed its operations within a field of tension between the patron and architect models of state cultural policy. These models reflect the tension between institutional autonomy and state dependence. Through the application of a strategy of “self‐governed dependence”, the FCF has chosen a “third way”, and has been able to establish itself as a major actor on the cultural policy arena, and to secure support and legitimacy from both national cultural policy makers and those who compete for funding opportunities provided by the FCF.