ABSTRACT
This chapter examines the policy as it relates to sport development in different international contexts. It investigates the focus of sport policies and the factors affecting their formulation. While a significant proportion of studies are focused on single countries or specific geographic areas, there has also been an increased interest in international comparison of sport policies. Analysis of sport policy, as it relates to sport development (SD) and sport development legacies (SFD), commonly utilises what are termed as meso-level frameworks. Compared to macro-level theories, which largely concern broader distributions of power in society, meso-level frameworks lend themselves to analysis of the policy process in particular sectors, such as sport. Common examples include the advocacy coalition framework (ACF), multiple streams framework, path dependency and punctuated equilibrium. Much policy analysis starts from a position that identifies government as central to the policymaking process.
