ABSTRACT
Since its establishment, the German Olympic Sports Confederation (DOSB) has published a range of program-related documents on sport participation in Germany: for example, the Resolution on the Second Way (1959), the German Sports Charter (1976) and the Leisure Concept (1976). The increasing social importance of sport was further reflected in 2006 when the DOSB launched an initiative that aimed to incorporate sport into the German Basic Law as a government objective. The Basic Law defines a number of so-called national objectives, such as the principle of a social state, equal rights for men and women, and achieving a united Europe. ‘The national objective of sport should be incorporated into a new paragraph 2 of Article 20a of the Basic Law together with the national objective of culture. The wording could be as follows: “the state shall protect and promote culture and sport”’ (DOSB 2006: 2). However, whether sport does actually become a national objective depends primarily on the position of the German Bundestag and the 16 federal states that are involved in the decision-making process under the principle of Germany’s federal structure.
