Sport and the welfare state in Europe1

Abstract

The article analyses the mutual interconnection between welfare states and sports systems in six European countries (Denmark, Great Britain, Germany, France, Italy, Spain). It seeks to address, on the one hand, questions such as the following: what were the underlying rationales and ideologies evident in the justification of sports policy in welfare frameworks? What cultural values, historical contexts, and political configurations were evident in the specific arrangements of a given welfare state and its governmental welfare poicy infrastructure? On the other hand it portrays the legal, institutional and organisational similarities and dissimilarities which exist in a given country between the institutional structure of the sport system and the organisation of the welfare state, and seeks to identify to what extent comparable structural elements have developed, and where dissimilarities can be found. This paper illustrates how, where sports and welfare systems in different European countries are derived from different historical roots and are based on different ideologies and organisational structures, the welfare state maintains a different position and influence on sport. To the extent that the traditional welfare states of western industrialised countries are heading towards crises in terms of increasing funding requirements and legitimation deficits, the sport system will also be affected by the immediate consequences of such developments and will be required to adjust and adapt.