Government, Opposition and Sport: the Role of Domestic Sports Policy in Generating Political Support

Abstract

All governments, regardless of regime type, use sport to generate political support. Op positions commonly seek to exploit sport in order to diminish systemic support. This article identifies three types of domestic sports policies — integrative, symbolic and instrumental, describes the functions of each type in terms of systemic support, identifies the structure through which each is implemented, and relates opposition strategies to each type. The arti cle concludes that the significance of domestic sports policy is found in the modification and reinforcement of citizen values and beliefs, oppositions will continue to be offered op portunities to exploit sport due to governments' failure to acknowledge the dysfunctional aspects of sports policies, and governments will find it increasingly necessary to limit the autonomy of sport.