Abstract
ABSTRACT Federative sport organisations are increasingly conducting advocacy vis-à-vis public authorities on behalf of their membership, but the meaning and implications of such interest representation are unclear. The purpose of this paper is therefore to explore how representatives of sport federations understand interests in the context of sport advocacy, and the transformative effects on future representational and wider democratic practices that may follow from such conceptualisations. Drawing theoretically on a distinction between attached and objective interests, and empirically on interviews with 46 Swedish Regional Sport Federation representatives, we show that interests are understood as best derived from central policy documents and edicts rather than clubs’ immediate wishes. This centralised sourcing of advocacy issues may be explained with reference to the legitimacy representatives believe that the internal democratic system bestows on processes of issue prioritisation. In the absence of bottom-up practices outside of general assemblies to channel federated clubs’ interests, this issue prioritisation strategy involves a shift from accommodating interests attached to clubs to promoting understandings of sport’s collective and ‘objective’ interest. The significance of this shift is twofold. First, it enables the justification of a professionalised, bureaucratic and centralised advocacy dedicated to increasing advocacy impact rather than ‘downward’ representational authorisation and accountability. Second, it may shape what is perceived as legitimate subsequent representation, including the appropriate participatory practices associated with advocacy. More generally, if clubs and their members come to understand their interests as objective, their capacity and will to formulate their interests as attached may be further weakened.
Highlights
Amidst reports of and research on professionalisation and commercialisation in sport (e.g., Dowling et al 2014, Nagel et al 2015, Seippel 2019), it is easy to forget that in many (Western European) countries, sport is organised through member-based and democratically governed federative systems
The first describes conceptualisations of the nature of club interests, the second how interests are determined, and the third suggests some tentative explanations as to why Regional Sport Federations (RSFs) conceive of interests and responsiveness the way they do
In the RSFs’ view, what clubs need and what they want is not always the same thing, and while clubs may know what they want, they do not always know what is in their best interest
Summary
Amidst reports of and research on professionalisation and commercialisation in sport (e.g., Dowling et al 2014, Nagel et al 2015, Seippel 2019), it is easy to forget that in many (Western European) countries, sport is organised through member-based and democratically governed federative systems In the context of the considerations of sport’s institutional effects (Warren 2000 third theme), sport federations are significant since research shows that they are transitioning from a ‘passive custodian’ to an ‘active advocate’ role (Stenling and Sam 2017, 2019a, see Bergsgard and Waldahl 2007, Bergsgard and Nødland 2009, Ibsen 2009) In this new role, sport federations conduct advocacy vis-à-vis public authorities, purportedly on behalf of their membership (i.e., local clubs and their individual members) and their interests. Paired with the cultural and political significance of sport, not to mention its large proportional memberships base in many countries, the assumption that mem bership structures engender an ability to transfer citizens’ interests into the political system suggests that sport federations may be likely to be offered a ‘seat at the table’ in political processes where they are expected to carry out democratically accountable interest representation
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