The article is intended for the formulation of the concept of “cultural policy” based on the analysis of component terms: “politics” and “culture”. Through research on the development of the concept of public policy from the 50s from last century until the present days, and analyzing several definitions of other researchers basic principles are formulated that characterize public policy. “Culture” is analyzed both in terms of anthropological and sociological research, in terms of stipulations in the international organizations documents such as UNESCO and the Council of Europe, and in terms of national legislation of Moldova and Ukraine. The author supports the idea of researchers who consider that in order to develop more effective cultural policies, it is necessary to establish a narrower framework which applies to the notion of “culture”.