Internal and External Factors in the Development of a Network Organization in the Arts: Case Study of Društvo Asociacija

Network organizations in the arts have recently received substantial discussion in cultural policy research. Yet, very seldom have they been empirically modeled. We analyze development of Drustvo Asociacija, the umbrella network of nongovernmental organizations and freelancers in culture and the arts in Slovenia between 2004–2017. Using mediation analysis, we observe two breakpoint periods in the development of the network and explore if they were the effects of internal, organizationally related factors or the mere response to external, macroeconomic changes. Our findings demonstrate the importance of internal decisions of the organization which have a self-standing, but not a mediating effect to the consequences of external factors like financial crises. This has an important consequence for European cultural policies as it shows to which extent network organizations in the arts should be supported directly and to which manner their condition is just a consequence of the changes in their external environment.