Sport policy : a comparative analysis of stability and change / Nils Asle Bergsgard ... [and others].

Format:

Book

Contributor:

Bergsgard, Nils Asle

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Sports and state--Canada--Cross-cultural studies.

Sports and state.

Canada.

Sports and state--England--Cross-cultural studies.

England.

Sports and state--Germany--Cross-cultural studies.

Germany.

Sports and state--Norway--Cross-cultural studies.

Norway.

Genre:

Cross-cultural studies.

Physical Description:

xiii, 285 pages : illustrations ; 24 cm

Place of Publication:

Amsterdam ; Boston : Butterworth-Heinemann, 2007.

Summary:

Sport Policy: A Comparative Analysis of Stability and Change is the first book to address the burgeoning interest in processes of policy change and issues associated with policy convergence in the context of comparison, across national boundaries. 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.

Written by an internationally renowned author team and vital in its addition to the literature in the area, this book offers the reader: a cutting-edge text which responds to the increasing importance of sport policy and its relation to public investment, excellent depth and coverage through theoretically informed analysis of the sports systems in four carefully selected countries Canada, England, Germany and Norway, authorship by established and leading academics in the field of sport policy.

Contents:

Sport and sport policy 2

The selected countries and their socio-economic profiles 4

Welfare state regimes and sport 6

Sport profiles 9

Political systems and policy change 12

Methods of comparison and research design 13

2 Comparing sport policies in economically developed countries 19

Comparative sport policy studies 20

Policy processes and approaches to comparison 22

Analytical dimensions 24

3 Political and historical context 38

Deep structures and policy paradigms 39

Forces of change 41

The four countries in the study 48

4 The structure of sport and the role of the voluntary sector 64

The organisational setting for voluntary sport 66

Voluntary sport organisations and resources 78

Basis for voluntary sport co-ordination and interests 90

5 Sport policy: structures and values 106

Government responsibilities for sport 108

Government and sport relations 134

Policy objectives and priorities 143

6 High performance sport 152

Values, priorities and ambivalences 155

Pathways to the podium 178

7 Sport for all 200

The development of sport for all policies 203

Policy implementation 223

Factors influencing variations in sport for all policy 234

8 Sport policies compared 243

Cultural differences and welfare regimes 244

State systems 246

Executive-legislative relations 248

Government-interest group relations 249

Generalisation of interest and coalition building 252

Divergence or convergence? 254.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN:

9780750683647

0750683643

OCLC:

137216332