The public budget and the protection of cultural heritage in Entre Ríos (Argentina), 2008-2023

Abstract

Objective: Cultural heritage is a human right that is an integral part of cultural rights, which requires positive actions by the State to promote and guarantee access by its inhabitants. International instruments call for strengthening the financing of culture through a progressively increasing budget.

The Province of Entre Ríos, Argentina, reformed its Provincial Constitution in 2008, incorporated the recognition of the human right to culture, and established a percentage for its financing. Since then, several provincial laws related to cultural heritage have been enacted and updated. This paper establishes the degree of linkage between the framework of the legal regulation of cultural heritage protection and budget allocations to this area in Entre Ríos in the period 2008-2023.

Material and methods: The methodological design of this research is qualitative, combining content analysis and a descriptive-analytical analysis of budget allocations. For the analysis, the legal texts enacted during the period and the public budgets approved by the Legislative Branch were used. The timing of the study is based on the fact that the 2008 constitutional reform incorporates culture as a fundamental right and establishes that a minimum percentage (1%) of the public budget must be allocated to its financing.

Results: The characteristics of Argentine federalism as a socio-political phenomenon require a historically and geographically determined conceptualization. Concerning cultural heritage, a typical concurrence can be identified, since references to heritage can be found in jurisdictions at different levels (national, provincial, municipal).

Since the constitutional reform of 2008, the number of objects belonging to the cultural heritage of Entre Ríos has increased, as well as the number of actions related to this heritage. In addition to the provisions of the Provincial Constitution, the following laws have been enacted Law No. 10.911, which establishes a regulatory framework for tangible and intangible heritage; Law No. 10.740 for the rescue, protection, and promotion of the traditional culture of Entre Ríos, whose purpose is to preserve, protect, rescue, disseminate and promote all the traditional cultural expressions that constitute the heritage of identity; and Law No. 10.659 on Handicrafts, which incorporates the aspect of cultural heritage in its articles. All of them have the Secretariat of Culture as the implementing authority and provide for actions and functions to be carried out to implement these regulations. According to the legal texts, none of them provide specific allocations for the fulfillment of these purposes.

A detailed study of each budget can be carried out from two perspectives. On the one hand, these data can be organized from an institutional perspective, which is based on items ordered by purpose, function, and object of the public administration. These items are maintained over time and are those that make it possible to carry out the usual activities of the State. In the Province of Entre Ríos, these items are: personnel; consumer goods; non-personal services; goods for use, and transfers.

Another perspective is the functional aspect, which takes into account the allocation according to programs that, in many cases, exceed the administrative periods of each government and are maintained over time. These programs represent the activities or public policies carried out in a given period with a specific objective and may contribute to one or more institutions. In the budgets that have been analyzed, these programs allow us to distinguish at least two types of programs in the field of culture: on the one hand, those related to policies for access to and enjoyment of culture and creative productions, and on the other hand, those directly related to cultural heritage. These include custody and preservation of books and literary documents; protection of cultural heritage dependent on the provincial museums; archiving and preservation of official documents; promotion and development of artistic, and cultural activities and archiving of documents.

The results of the analyses of the public budget show an increase in legal regulations for the protection of cultural heritage in Entre Ríos in the period analyzed, although, in most of them, the actions are attended with the general budget allocations of the culture area of the provincial organization chart. In turn, an analysis of the budgets shows that the largest percentage of budget allocations is allocated to human resources. In functional terms, the programs that deal with cultural heritage institutions (museums and archives) have the highest percentage of the budget.

Conclusions: The analytical description of budget allocations allows us to understand the maintenance of cultural heritage protection functions through programs consolidated over time. This is consistent with the legislative changes that, despite the increase in regulations, concentrate protection actions.