This article aims to present a critical reading of the Hierarchical Model of Culture (HMC) which, based on non-historical notions of culture and rooted in an essentialist and elitist distinction of the judgment of taste, subdivides culture in a hierarchical ranking of classical culture, mass culture and popular culture. By highlighting cultural diversity and the processes of cultural interaction inherent in contemporary societies, it seeks theoretical reflections that suggest public cultural policies from the standpoint of a project of Cultural Democracy for the purpose of democratic radicalization. We have therefore concluded that a Cultural Democracy project for public cultural policies should consider the context of cultural interaction, the different actors involved, the power relations present in the very idea of public cultural policies, and also seek to maximize public participation in political decision-making spaces.