This document analyzes discourses around cultural participation and non-participation in UK cultural policy. It identifies two subject identities constructed in policy - the cultural participant and non-participant. Cultural participants are seen as open-minded and able to choose experiences, while non-participants are portrayed as lacking knowledge and constrained by barriers. However, interviews reveal that cultural professionals also reject many activities and non-participants regularly participate in popular culture. The document argues this binary oversimplifies cultural behavior and marginalizes non-participants' voices. It questions how policy might change if all were seen as cultural participants choosing from diverse options.