ABSTRACT
Sport, in certain parts of the world, might not be defined as socially democratic, but the promise of sport might be an inspiration, a way of being, a manner of acting based on both democratic and social values. The politics of sport, then, is all that bears on the attempt to order sporting relations, and is not simply limited to the conventional approach that encompasses the everyday processes of involvement in sport by politicians, parties and parliaments - important as this may be. The basic idea is that sporting involvement and practice are not value-free, but involve complex interactions, not least of which are the dynamic relations of power between states, markets and social patterns. Sport has always been an arena in which various social actors and groups can actively rework their relationships and respond to changing conditions as a whole.
