Resisting the Pressures of Globalisation: The Repeated Failure of Elite Sport Reforms in Re-United Germany

Abstract

During the German divide, the two Germanys developed quite different elite sport systems. After reunification, the expensive and compromised East German state sport system was dismantled and the West German neo-corporatist policy approach to elite sport prevailed. The neo-corporatist approach is characterised by a large number of veto players which constantly bargain over influence and scarce resources. Globalisation and the diffusion of East German policy approaches have increased the competitive intensity in international sport and made the neo-corporatist approach increasingly anachronistic. Declining competitiveness has inspired several initiatives of the federal government to reform elite sport policymaking. So far, German elite sport seems to represent a policy domain where neo-corporatism resists the pressures of globalisation.

DISCLOSURE STATEMENT

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Notes

1 The GDR implemented a system of early development of children and youth into athletes through sports Training Centres, specialised Children’s and Youth Sports Schools and on up the performance pyramid to elite Sports Clubs (Dennis and Grix 2012).

2 The elite sport sector also benefits from indirect subsidies in the form of lottery revenues or the employment of athletes as federal army and police officers (Wissenschaftliche Dienste 2012). The exact amount of federal subsidies is hard to calculate as subsidies for elite sport are scattered over at least eight federal ministries. According to Fahrner (2012), the federal government spent around EUR 250mn in 2012 on support for elite sports equaling around 0.08 percent of the entire federal budget.

Additional information

Funding

Research presented here was supported by a grant of the International Olympic Committee (IOC).

Notes on contributors

Henk Erik Meier

Henk Erik Meier (PhD, The University of Potsdam, Germany) is professor for the social sciences of sport at the Institute of Sport Science at Münster University, Germany. His research interests include sport economics, sport broadcasting, sport geography and sport governance. His work has appeared in Journal of Common Market Studies, Public Administration, European Sociological Review, Journal of Sport Economics, Sociology of Sport Journal, Communication and Sport.

Borja García

Borja García (PhD, Loughborough University, United Kingdom) is Senior Lecturer in Sport Management and Policy at the School of Sport, Exercise and Health Sciences at Loughborough University. His research interests include sport governance, sport policy, European Union sports law and policy, and the political activism of football fans. His work has been published in journals such as Journal of European Public Policy, Journal of Common Market Studies, European Sport Management Quarterly or International Review for the Sociology of Sport.

Mara Konjer

Mara Konjer (PhD, The University of Münster, Germany) is currently working as a Postdoc in the Institute for Sport and Exercise Sciences at Münster University. In her PhD studies, completed in 2015, she dealt with demand functions for individual sports. She is currently working on a project that investigates the future viability of the Olympic sports system.