THE MEDIA AND OUR COUNTRY'S AGENDA
595
The result might be called the "ideology of democracy." In this ideol–
ogy, not only are all people created equal but so are all ideas and cultures .
Equality does not need to be earned or proven.
It
is naturally possessed .
This ideology became most obvious in debates about the National
Endowment for the Arts. The problem became increasingly clear over
time. How can a national agency in a democracy make decisions that are,
in their essence, anti-democratic, asserting preferences, conferring privi–
lege? In the I950S and early I960s, the idea of a governmental patron
was opposed by American orchestras and artistic organizations. The arts,
they argued, would be sullied by political interference.
But the ideology of democracy gained influence, until it became an
unstated premise. With the growth of the NEA, a new style of artistic
patronage developed-the result of a "democratic" process administered
by a bureaucracy. The criteria for awarding grants became simple and
were focused on the notions of equitable distribution and the serving of
appropriately large and diverse audiences. Race, class, gender, and locale
were represented according to formula, each calculated up to a tenth of
a percentage point. Art became a form of politically sponsored enter–
tainment. The very word "elite" was condemned as anti-democratic and
was used as a slur by both Republicans and Democrats. A democratic
NEA, the implication was, should be art by, for, and about the people–
mass art with a quality imprimatur. This ideology even affected acade–
mic analyses of culture. Cultural studies for example, which thrives in
the United States since the I980s and I990S, owes much to a kind of
mandarin populism with origins in Marxism: the dominance of a culture
or an artistic style has nothing to do with its values or intrinsic aesthetic
interest, but only with its abilities to control the marketplace and exer–
cise power. These ideas have also characterized the doctrine known as
multiculturalism-which has now been adopted on an international
scale.
In
the name of democracy, no culture can be judged or slighted.
Every culture deserves equal representation. Multiculturalism was born
of democratic liberalism, even if, over time, it has come to be associated
with separatism, relativism, and sectarian politics.
The ideology of democracy is also reflected in the ways in which a
democracy uses art to celebrate itself. One of the most potent examples
of this was evident a decade ago, in I992, at the first Clinton inaugural
concert. In this supposed musical demonstration of multicultural diver–
sity, Kathleen Battle sang "We Shall Overcome"; Maria Conchita
Alonso represented the Hispanic constituency, Ben E. King the lovers of
soul; Kenny Rogers offered a hint of country. The "classical" selection
was part of Copland's "Lincoln Portrait." Ten saxophones did a version
