Collecting essays about the experiences of thirteen countries, including the United States, Canada, Great Britain, and Japan, The Patron State presents a global overview of recent government policies in relation to the arts. Each country is analyzed in terms of the forms and levels of government support of the arts; the organizational structure of arts support programs; policy choices; patterns of financial distribution; the impact of government programs on the arts; and the impact of budget cuts that have occurred in virtually every country since the mid-1970s.