ABSTRACT
Chapter two details the construct of multi-level legitimacy and its value as an analytical tool to understand and explain the challenges World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) confronts in achieving doping-free sport as well as the methods underpinning data collection. The chapter begins by articulating the central premise of institutional theory that organisational behaviour is a combination of rational decision-making and social pressures. This explanation of the reasons underpinning organisational behaviour rests on the three key related concepts of institutions, the field and legitimacy. However, a common criticism of institutional theory is the inability to accommodate individual agency within socially prescribed pressures. It is argued that this paradox can be explained if the legitimacy of an institution is conceptualised as a judgement. Accordingly, using examples from anti-doping, the chapter explains institutional stability and change using a multi-level legitimacy perspective and how this theory can develop our understanding of the lack of support for WADA. Lastly, the process used to determine appropriate case studies to analyse WADA’s legitimacy is outlined.
