Sport Policy

by Bergsgard; Nils Asle

• ISBN13: 9780750683647
• ISBN10: 0750683643
• Format: Nonspecific Binding
• Copyright: 2007-06-04
• Publisher: Routledge

Summary

Sport Policy: a comparative analysis of stability and change builds on the growing general interest in the comparative study of sport policy and the more specific interest in processes of policy change and issues associated with policy convergence. In stark contrast to many other areas of public policy such as education, personal welfare and health care there is a paucity of theoretically informed comparative studies in sport. Over recent years there has been a steady increase in public investment in sport and frequently, as a consequence, a sharper debate about how public resources should be used. However, there has been little analysis of the factors that shape the generation of domestic sport policy and little attempt to identify the variables that might influence the policy process. Sport Policy: a comparative analysis of stability and change provides a theoretically informed analysis of the sports systems in Canada, England, Germany and Norway. These economically advanced countries are carefully selected to enable the investigation of the significance of variables and because they share a number of socio-economic and sports-related characteristics, which provides the text with a unique breadth and depth of coverage. This text is a vital addition to the general paucity of literature in this area and is written by an internationally renowned author team. * Cutting-edge text which responds to the increasing importance of sport policy and its relation to public investment * Provides excellent depth and coverage through theoretically informed analysis of the sports systems in four carefully selected countries Canada, England, Germany and Norway * Authored by established and leading academics in the field of sport policy

Table of Contents

Preface	p. vii
Acknowledgements	p. viii
List of figures	p. x
List of tables	p. xi
List of abbreviations	p. xii
Introduction	p. 1
Sport and sport policy	p. 2
The selected countries and their socio-economic profiles	p. 4
Welfare state regimes and sport	p. 6
Sport profiles	p. 9
Political systems and policy change	p. 12
Methods of comparison and research design	p. 13
Structure of the book	p. 16
Notes	p. 17
Comparing sport policies in economically developed countries	p. 19
Introduction	p. 20
Comparative sport policy studies	p. 20
Policy processes and approaches to comparison	p. 22
Analytical dimensions	p. 24
Summary	p. 35
Note	p. 37
Political and historical context	p. 38
Deep structures and policy paradigms	p. 39
Forces of change	p. 41
The four countries in the study	p. 48
Conclusion	p. 62
Notes	p. 63
The structure of sport and the role of the voluntary sector	p. 64
Introduction	p. 65
The organisational setting for voluntary sport	p. 66
Voluntary sport organisations and resources	p. 78
Basis for voluntary sport co-ordination and interests	p. 90
Summary discussion	p. 103
Notes	p. 105
Sport policy: structures and values	p. 106
Introduction	p. 107
Government responsibilities for sport	p. 108
Government and sport relations	p. 134
Policy objectives and priorities	p. 143
Conclusion	p. 148
Notes	p. 151
High performance sport	p. 152
Introduction	p. 153
Values, priorities and ambivalences	p. 155
Pathways to the podium	p. 178
Conclusion	p. 193
Notes	p. 197
Sport for all	p. 200
Introduction	p. 201
The development of sport for all policies	p. 203
Policy implementation	p. 223
Factors influencing variations in sport for all policy	p. 234
Sport policies compared	p. 243
Cultural differences and welfare regimes	p. 244
State systems	p. 246
Executive-legislative relations	p. 248
Government-interest group relations	p. 249
Generalisation of interest and coalition building	p. 252
Divergence or convergence?	p. 254
Conclusion	p. 256
References	p. 257
Index	p. 279
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