Introduction

In recent years the promotion and development of sport have become increasingly common features of government sport policy and sports-development-related activity in many countries (Bergsgard et al., 2007; Coalter, 2007a; Houlihan and Green, 2008). This tendency has been strongly associated with the parallel tendency for government and other state agencies to become increasingly interventionist in setting the sport policy agenda and, hence, the sports development work that emerges from it. In this respect, there has been a growing willingness to use sport and physical activities as vehicles of social policy designed to achieve a range of other non-sport objectives. As Bergsgard et al. (2007) have noted, the increasing salience of sport to governments and their various policy agendas is an expression of the growing social and cultural significance of sport; the malleability of sport as a resource to help achieve non-sport policy goals (e.g. reducing youth crime and drug use, enhancing social inclusion, the promotion of health, and community regeneration); and the multidimensional character of sport where it is seen not only as ‘a distinctive public service and, in many countries, an important aspect of overall welfare provision, but is also an important element of the economy in terms of job creation, capital investment and balance of payments’ (Bergsgard et al., 2007: 3-4). The steady increase in government and state involvement in sport has not, however,

been accompanied by a comparable growth in analyses of that involvement. This omission has been in marked contrast to other areas of public policy, especially the costly areas of national policy such as education, defence, health and welfare, but also in newer and more modestly funded policy fields such as environment and culture (Houlihan et al., 2009). As Houlihan (2005: 164) noted in his survey of nine major English language journals from January 2001 to September 2003, ‘only 3% of the articles utilised the extensive array of concepts, analytical frameworks and theories developed in mainstream policy analysis to aid … understanding of sport policy making and the role of government’. Between September 2003 and mid-2008 that proportion had increased slightly to 18 per cent, with the vast majority of articles providing perceptive analyses informed by theory and concepts drawn from other social sciences, especially sociology and cultural studies, and from the humanities, particularly history (Houlihan et al., 2009). What was notable, however, was that too few of these articles acknowledged, and fewer still investigated, the role and increasing intervention of representatives of the state, other government agencies and the private sector, for example, in helping to set the sport policy agenda and influencing the development of modern sport more broadly (Houlihan et al., 2009). We may begin to develop more adequate explanations of the complex relationships that exist between modern sport, sport policy and development and other aspects of the wider society, by enhancing the insights derived from these perspectives and complementing them with ‘a

more explicit and theoretically informed understanding of the process of sport policymaking and the role and significance of government and state agencies’ (Houlihan et al., 2009: 1). This is, then, a book that we hope begins to fill this gap in the existing literature. Our intention here is to make a modest contribution to our understanding of sport policy and development. Set in this context, it is worth making clear to the reader what this book is about and, equally importantly, what it is not about. The purpose of this introductory text is to examine some of the complex relationships

between modern sport, sport policy and development and other aspects of the wider society. It is also primarily intended for those either studying sport policy and sports development or who work in both these fields. In this regard, it is hoped that the content of the book will appeal to those who are following courses in a diverse range of subjects, including sport policy and development, sports studies, sport and exercise sciences, physical education (PE), as well as sociology, political science and policy analysis. In particular, it is hoped that our preference for focusing on detailed case studies of some key aspects of sport policy and sports-development-like work will help to broaden the appeal and readership of the book. The case studies are also intended to help demonstrate something about the ways and extent to which the sport policy and development fields have changed, and are continually changing. Although many of the case studies and examples provided in subsequent chapters come from Britain and, in some cases, primarily England, we have, wherever possible, sought to incorporate international research in order to demonstrate the cross-cultural and international relevance of the various topics to an understanding of sport policy and development. In light of our preference for focusing on some of the major issues that characterize

current sport policy and development activity via a case study approach, the book is not intended to be a comprehensive survey of all the possible issues that may have been explored. Indeed, such are the often short-term, ever-changing and frequently conflicting and contradictory political priorities of government that it is impossible – indeed, foolhardy – to attempt to examine all of the various sport policy initiatives and sports development programmes that are currently in operation in Britain and elsewhere. It is perhaps almost inevitable, therefore, that we have left many stones unturned. There will be some readers who would have liked us to have included chapters on many other subjects than we have been able to here and some of which have appeared in other introductory texts on sports development (e.g. Hylton and Bramham, 2008). Other readers may feel – quite rightly – that much more could have been said about each of the various topics that are covered in the book. Themes such as elite sports development, sport and social inclusion and sporting mega-events, among others, are deserving of books in themselves. Indeed, in many cases, several existing texts have begun to examine the complexities involved in studying these areas of sport policy and development. Amongst the many and more recent examples that could be cited in this regard include the work of De Bosscher et al. (2008), Green and Houlihan (2005) and Houlihan and Green (2008) on the extent of state investment in, and direction of, elite sports development systems. Together with Nicholson and Hoye’s edited collection of essays that explore the complex relationships between sport and the development of social capital (Nicholson and Hoye, 2008), Fred Coalter’s excellent book A Wider Social Role for Sport: Who’s Keeping the Score? (Coalter, 2007a) provides an important and invaluable survey of the many and complex explanations for increasing governmental interest in sport, in particular the growing emphasis that has come to be placed on the use of sport to alleviate a variety of social problems. In relation to the complexities that surround the increasing social

significance and importance of hosting sporting mega-events (e.g. the Olympic and Paralympic Games and soccer World Cup), Preuss (2004), Roche (2000) and Cashman (2006), for example, have all made valuable contributions to our understanding of this aspect of contemporary sport policy and development. Finally, mention should also be made of the substantial contribution by Barrie Houlihan to our understanding of the politics associated with various aspects of sport policy and development (e.g. Houlihan, 1991; 1997; 2005; Houlihan and White, 2002), especially youth sport (e.g. Houlihan, 2000; Houlihan and Green, 2006) and elite sports development (e.g. Green and Houlihan, 2004; 2005; 2006; Houlihan and Green, 2008). For these and many other reasons, this book is intended to complement the important, though at times competing, explanations that have been advanced in the field thus far. We hope that this will help us develop our understanding of the relationships that exist between sport policy and development and aspects of the wider society. We also hope to show, throughout this book, something of the ways in which a distinctly sociological approach to understanding these issues may hold out the promise of developing relatively adequate explanations of sport policy processes and the variety of sports development activity that emerges from them. It is now appropriate, therefore, to say something about the theoretical perspective that underlies this book.