Expertise, public policies and the economics of creativity: the British case

Expertise, public policies and the economics of creativity: the British case This article explores the role of expertise in public debate on creative industries policy in the United Kingdom. The first section gives an overview of the emergence of expertise in government and of the rise of think tanks, and locates it within a wider sociology of the intellectuals. It discusses the development of New Labour expertise in response to that of Thatcherite Conservatism in the battle to dominate public policy agendas. The second section illustrates the growth of the New Labour "policy generation" and the emergence of a cohort of experts in the fields of media, communications and culture, and discusses various trajectories that let these experts into government. The final section, based on interviews, discusses the power plays behind New Labour policy making in the field of creative industries. It considers the impact of ministerial changes on the policy process, illustrates how interdepartmental rivalries introduce complexity and demonstrates how civil service expertise may be mobilized to neutralize external experts. The conclusion addresses the implications of this analysis.