As Mike Raco (2012) argues, the Olympics are not exceptional events whose analysis can be circumscribed within the narrow boundaries of the literature on mega-events. They need instead to be considered in relation to the current forms of urban politics and contemporary capitalism. Such forms are characterised by the shift from government to governance, which is turning representative democracy into a ‘second-level indirect representative democracy – citizens elect representatives who control and supervise “experts” who formulate and administer policies in an autonomous fashion from their regulatory bastions’ (Levi-Faur, 2005:13).