Traditionally, cultural policy has emanated from notions of ‘public good’ that claim that investment in culture enriches a society and fosters national identity and culture. Advocates argue that cultural policy has four objectives:
Protecting the public from harm (e.g. violence, sexually explicit material, racial vilification, pollution, extreme politics by regulatory strategies such as censorship, laws and/or licensing regimes).
Protecting the public from external pressures (such as cultural imperialism from Hollywood, multinational domination and global merchandising by measures to shore up local cultural production such as tariffs, investment and import restrictions).
Conserving and protecting cultural resources for the future (such as cultural heritage, cultural icons, material culture collections by establishing institutions and programs to preserve and conserve cultural heritage in museums, educational programs and community cultural development).
Fostering desirable attributes of citizenship (through citizen incentives e.g. rewards, funding of libraries, public broadcasting, national celebrations and cultural organisations and activities).