The state and sport development in Alberta: Conflict, corporatism and change.

摘要

This case study examines the factors that led the Alberta government to create the Alberta Sport Council and discusses some of the council's impact on sport development in Alberta. The analysis of these factors draws primarily from Claus Offe's discussions of corporatism and welfare state development. The data used in this study were collected from interviews, government documents, annual reports, minutes, press releases, newspaper articles, committee reports, letters, government legislation and scholarly publications dealing with politics and/or sport development in Alberta.;The results of this study indicate that key individuals, organizational factors and Alberta's social and political characteristics influenced the events that led to the creation of the Alberta Sport Council. Individuals interested in promoting sport in Alberta sought to create an institution that would, with the assistance of the provincial government, foster the development of sport in Alberta. Beginning in 1967 the Alberta government, in which the Social Credit Party held a majority, sponsored numerous discussions that led to the creation of Sport Alberta in 1970. Sport Alberta was the first organization with the mandate of supporting the interests of sports groups throughout the province. During the 1970s the Progressive Conservatives were elected to government. This party implemented an approach to government that transformed the way in which sport interests were represented in Alberta. Interpersonal and intra-organizational conflict, the corporatist ideology of the Progressive Conservatives and a rapid downturn in the economic growth of Alberta combined together to foster the creation of the Alberta Sport Council.;Further observations made in this study indicate that the Alberta Sport Council's approach to sport development mirrors that of other governments which have directly intervened in sport development. This has occurred in three ways. First there has been a rapid growth in the bureaucratization and related professionalization of sport delivery, second there has been an increase in the emphasis on high-performance sport, and third there has been movement towards recommodifying sport delivery.