Before discussing the work of the Institute for Cultural Policy Studies (!CPS), I would like to situate my comments by reflecting on the nature of the relations between culture and government. The first reflection is on the theme and orientation of the seminar - Cultural Policy Studies: Questions of Method - ­and the peculiarity of the context to which it responds. This context consists of:

• the growth of cultural policy studies in Australia;
• the increased engagement of academics with bureaucracies;
• the need for more debate about the place of policy analysis in the broad field of govemmentality and culture; and, finally,
• the relationship between these developments and the determination of research agendas and the circulation of information.