During the past decade there has been a substantial revival of interest among economists and political scientists in the study of institutional structures in the public sector. Of critical importance is the design of rules governing accountability and the delegation of authority. The funding of culture through public arts councils provides an interesting set of problems, because of the necessary reliance on expert judgment in selecting what to fund, and the usually vague mission of arts

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... . This paper examines the political oversight of the Canada Council for the Arts and the (US) National Endowment for the Arts, suggesting that the different fortunes of the two agencies may be at least partially a result of the parliamentary system of government in Canada and the presidential system and division of powers in the US.