Investments into the infrastructure of the cultural sphere as an indicator of the effectiveness of the state cultural policy

The relevance of the study is directly related to the role that cultural sphere plays today in all countries. It provides not only a variety of cultural services to the population, influencing the level and quality of people’s life, but it also becomes an instrument of «soft power», forming a favorable opinion of the country, determines the identity of the nation, promotes social cohesion and economic development. That is why the analysis of the development of the cultural sphere needs a complex approach. The article emphasizes that the state cultural policy is directed at preserving the cultural potential of the country, popularization of cultural heritage, ensuring accessibility of cultural services for all segments of the population, infrastructure development. There are a lot of models, criteria and indicators for measuring (qualitative and quantitative) effectiveness of the cultural policy. Some of them are focused on financial aspects, others, to a more extent, are considering the socio-economic effect and accessibility of cultural organizations for the population. In our study, we focused on the analysis of investment in infrastructure facilities of the cultural sphere, as it makes the basis for the realization of the state cultural policy. Without investment into the creation, modernization and restoration of museums, libraries, theaters and other cultural spaces, it is impossible to realize state programs at the correct level and to save the objects of cultural heritage for future generations. The author has made a full enough analysis of one of the indicators for measuring investments in the cultural sphere - Cultural Infrastructure Index, which is used abroad. In the practical part of the work on the basis of this indicator the structure of the investments in various infrastructural objects of the cultural sphere, the main directions of such investments by countries and in dynamics were determined. In conclusion, it was stated that the Cultural Infrastructure Index allows measuring the volume and structure of the investments into the cultural objects under a number of assumptions. With the view to measuring cultural policy in Russia, this indicator does not present objective information and cannot fully demonstrate the effectiveness of the state cultural policy.