Georgia is a unitary parliamentary republic.
On October 15, 2010, a new Constitution of Georgia was adopted, which changed the system from a presidential state model to a mixed parliamentary-presidential model. In March 2018, amendments were passed approving the final transition to a parliamentary republic. As a result, the role of the Parliament of Georgia has increased, especially in relation to the executive branch, which has become more accountable to the legislative branch. With the reform of the Parliamentary Regulations, the functions of the Parliament were further expanded and new mechanisms were introduced to carry out legislative, supervisory and representative activities of the Parliament.
The system of administration includes the following branches of authority:
Parliament – the legislative power; the parliamentary committee for culture (established in 2020 after the Parliamentary Elections) is responsible for legislation and supervision of the executive power (Ministry of Culture, Sport and Youth of Georgia)
National government – the executive power; Ministry of Culture, Sport and Youth of Georgia (restored under this name in 2021)
The Ministry is responsible for the development of cultural policy.
The Ministry has undergone the following changes over the last 30 years:
- 1990-2003- Ministry of Culture
- 2004-2010 – Ministry of Culture, Monument Protection and Sports
- 2010-2017- Ministry of Culture and Monument Protection
- 2017-2018 – Ministry of Culture and Sport
- 2018-2020 – the Ministry of Culture and Sport was integrated with the Ministry of Education and Science of Georgia.
- 2021 – The Georgian Dream government reorganized the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Youth.
Since 2023, the Youth Department was separated from the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Youth and as of today it is the Ministry of Culture and Sports.
It was announced that after the 2024 parliamentary elections, the Ministry of Culture and Sports Department will be separated into two individual ministries.
The Ministry includes several agencies responsible for various areas of cultural policy:
The National Agency for Cultural Heritage Preservation of Georgia (http://heritagesites.ge/) was created in 2008.
Two Creative Europe desks – culture and media – were established at the Ministry in 2016.
In 2017, this new government organization Creative Georgia was created at the Ministry: Creative Georgia is a LEPL (Legal Entity of Public Law), that focuses on the commercialisation of the creative industries’ sector and supporting its sustainable development. http://creativegeorgia.ge/
Advisory bodies or councils: In the Georgian system of cultural administration there is no institute or independent arts council. Advisory bodies – branch committees – were established at the Ministry of Culture, Sport and Youth of Georgia. These committees are composed of freelance experts but remain largely inactive. Small grants are made available to ensure public participation in the implementation of cultural policy.
There are no special bodies such as councils, committees or working groups that facilitate the representation and participation of national and cultural minorities or groups of immigrants in the cultural processes. The only authority that indirectly addresses these issues (in the context of the protection of the general rights of minorities) is the Centre for Tolerance at the Office of the Ombudsman of Georgia.
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