Actions and omissions in the national culture policy (2019-2021): an Unconstitutional State of Things?

Abstract

The norms and policies that govern the me-chanisms of promotion, support and preserva-tion of culture in Brazil are the expression, at the infra-constitutional level, of fundamental precepts based on the Federal Constitution and on basic instruments of International Human Rights Law. They are, ultimately, essential ele-ments for the full exercise of cultural rights, and even freedom of expression, more broadly. The refusal or systematic failure of the Public Ad-ministration to grant social effectiveness to these rights constitutes, at least potentially, a breach of a fundamental precept, subject to concentrated control of constitutionality. In recent years, evi-dence of setbacks in the implementation of these public policies has accumulated, highlighted by acts and omissions ranging from the stoppage or drastic reduction of public investment lines to acts similar to censorship. As they reveal the prevalence of a situation of generalized violation of a fundamental right, with a large and indeterminate number of people affected, whose solution depends on the joint and coordinated action of the various public bodies, this situation constitutes an Unconstitutional State of Things in the management of public policies of culture, with severe and long-term damage to the socio-cultural development of the country.