Abstract. The author considers basic principles of contemporary cultural policies and their typological diversity, which is determined by combination of external and internal factors. The author reveals opportunities and prospects of socio-cultural development of Russia in the 21st century via analysing economic mechanisms of regulating the cultural field. The special attention is given to conceptualising the attitudes of the State towards culture in the situation of modernising transformations and innovation, support to decentralisation principles in governance and multiculturalism the latter being an indicator of maturity of the society and its openness to inter-actions within the globalising world.