This case study was developed in 2020-2021 in the frame of an European research consortium. Within a broader vision of the value of culture, the Project intends to capture the emergence and configuration of cultural values, in its plurality and complex contexts in Europe. The object of analysis here is cultural administrations. A comparative exercise is conducted with case studies either in Portugal and in Spain – although a broader comparative perspective crosses the Project’s case studies, regarding other southern countries (Italy, France) and northern and eastern geographies (UK, Norway, Hungary), in territorial, institutional and sectorial levels. Also, the Covid-19 pandemic is addressed as a research dimension, in order to identify the administrations’ responses to cultural sectors affected by this current sanitary and economic crisis. The diversity of cultural administrations in European countries derives mainly from historic configurations and public policy models, and concerning Portugal, the fundamental distinctive characteristic is the cultural policy model of an Architect State in a country with some territorial asymmetries. The case study of the Ministry of Culture allows the analysis of the foundational cultural policy to the country. The values are to be analysed regarding tensions, conflicts and public controversies, in two research levels: institutional documentation review and field research with interviews and focus groups. The actors consulted (reflecting multiple ideological perspectives and operative positions) are politicians, and technical and expert personnel both internal and external to the administration, which play a part in policies design and grant-making processes

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