Abstract
The aim of this paper rests on three aspects. The first is to assess the organization of the policies of support of performing arts in France. We shall examine strategies of 4 levels of government. The State historically plays a central role in cultural public support. Cities are also key actors for it. Departments occupy a peculiar and variable place. Regions are new poles, still minor, of the governmental support of performing arts. For all these actors, we shall analyse their mode of intervention, their level of financing, and the main choices they do according to areas (dance, theatre, music) and types of action.The second objective is to examine the kind of relationship between the main levels of public action. We shall show that the public action, in show, is mainly marked by multilevel partnerships. If the State is not predominant any more in terms of financial support, it remains crucial within the process of artistic recognition.The third objective is to analyse the two main changes that affect this different public policies today. The emergence of new territorial institutions, the Metropolitan Communities, affects the financial and space conditions of cultural democratization. The new practices of festivals allow to go beyond the traditional debate about the pertinence of such events in terms of innovation, employment, social and spatial access and territorial attractivity.