Defined as a systematic collection of actions and measures taken under ministerial authority and under the aegis of a specialized administration, and associated with local and regional authority action, the cultural policies of numerous democratic European countries are now fifty years old. They are part of the history of the creation of the Welfare State. Their implementation has gone along with the invention and rise of educational policy, social policy and health policy. Comparing various countries' policies reveals few differences between national models when it comes to the broad aims of public action. Variations appear to arise primarily from two factors which are usually foremost in comparatives studies: that of the delegation of choice and action, or the direct exercise of responsibility under ministerial authority and its administration and that of the centralized, decentralized or federal nature of public action (van der Ploeg, 2006).