While sport for all is a popular topic in both policy and research, and leaning on the egalitarian policies and culture of Scandinavian countries, this article discusses sport for all within the Scandinavian sport and sport policy context. First, sketching the national political and organizational arrangements of sport in the three Scandinavian countries, the main part of the article discusses the limitations of the possibilities for reaching sport for all through the established institutional arrangements. The main findings are that, although more inclusive in participation terms than many other countries, the sport organizations in Scandinavia are exclusive in at least two ways. During adolescence, most people quit organized sport, and the patterns of participants follow socio-economic division lines favouring the middle class. Second, sport for all is difficult to achieve because other conventions, such as the competitive one, dominate the sport organizations. In sum, the balance between focusing on competition and providing sport for all is extremely difficult, and alternatives are vulnerable since sport subsidies from the state traditionally go to monopolistic umbrella organizations in Scandinavia. Nevertheless, there are indications that in order to get closer to sport for all, differentiation is needed to challenge the hegemonic structures and institutional relationships.
This article is study of sport club representatives' considerations about the work of sport clubs. Sport clubs are first and foremost providers of sport activity. However, when it came to the work of sport clubs, it is discovered that the focus is on competitiveness, but sport clubs were also seen as a vehicle for promotion of 'social goods' such as health. Based on documentary analysis, observations and interviews with board members of sport clubs, and with a neo-institutional perspective of translation, this article discusses how local agents combine different institutional elements such as competitiveness and health and assemble them into a wholeness of sport activity. Without claiming to have found the final solution to this complex phenomenon, the article discusses whether health is utilized -or exploited -for legislation purposes only, or whether it can be combined with competitiveness.
This article aims at developing a theoretical framework for analysing the implementation of sport policy, as it is conducted by voluntary sport clubs at grassroots level. First, three options are presented and discussed: i) a classical top-down implementation model, ii) the governance theory of policy tools, and iii) the Advocacy Coalition Framework. Second, the theoretical perspectives are discussed, and criticized for failing to take sufficiently into account the implementing body of sport policy, namely the voluntary sport clubs. In that respect, an alternative theoretical framework is suggested as a possible solution for analysing the implementation of sport policy; which is the translation perspective of neo-institutionalism. It stresses that, if elements of central policy influence the implementation process at the local level, it does so by the active import, interpretation and implementation of it in the local context. The autonomy of the local sport club in relation to central policy is reinforced by the fact that the activity in sport clubs is mainly done on a voluntary basis.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.