When East Meets West: International Change and Its Effects on Domestic Cultural Institutions

Abstract

Domestic governments increasingly face the pressure to follow policy developments occurring at the international or supranational level. Yet international laws and policies need to be “translated” to suit domestic political institutions and newly adopted policies may challenge or contradict preexisting domestic policies, institutions, and interests. To explore the domestic impact of international institutional developments, we studied the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) Convention for the Safeguarding of Intangible Cultural Heritage and its adoption in four countries (Japan, China, France, and Germany). Using historical institutionalism, this comparative case study sheds light on the effects of the Convention on cultural governance systems in two supposedly different “camps” within the UNESCO: the East and the West. The study argues that it is the interaction and entangled relationship of exogenous and endogenous factors over time, particularly the timing and sequence in which they constrain and facilitate change, which shape actors’ preferences and institutional development at both levels. Related Articles: Blanton, Robert G. 2000. “A Multidimensional Assessment of Interdependence.” Politics & Policy 28 (4): 759-774. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1747-1346.2000.tb00799.x. Hankivsky, Olena. 2013. “Gender Mainstreaming: A Five-Country Examination.” Politics & Policy 41 (5): 621-655. https://doi.org/10.1111/polp.12037. Peralta, J. Salvador. 2013. “Do Culture and Institutions Matter? Explaining the Sources of Cross-National Regime Support?” Politics & Policy 41 (4): 479-508. https://doi.org/10.1111/polp.12024. Related Media: UNESCO. 2003. “Text of the Convention for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage.” http://www.unesco.org/culture/ich/en/convention. United Nations. 2014. “Global Governance and Global Rules for Development in the Post-2015 Era.” http://www.un.org/en/development/desa/policy/cdp/cdp_publications/2014cdppolicynote.pdf.