ABSTRACT
This chapter presents policy-making processes in Montenegro's sports ecosystem, taking into account the country's political stability and the dominance of a single party over the sociopolitical realm. Although this constellation resulted in predictable policy-making arrangements, the level of politicization has crippled institutional memory, as especially the executive branch was subject to change due to political bargaining. That said, the instability of institutional positioning remains and the location of sport has been inconsistent. Currently, the central authority, the Ministry of Sport and Youth, dominates the sports policy-making process, whereas competencies have been transferred to the not-for-profit sector for the implementation of policy objectives. The relationship between the public and not-for-profit sectors is based on political dominance and resource dependency resulting in emerging patron–client relations with politically prominent persons occupying major positions within sports governing bodies. Consequently, the sports-related policy network is exclusionary with policy-making highly politicized and with an overwhelming focus on high-performance sport.
