| dc.description |
The everyday language of sports administration in Britain implies that sports policy is something which is made at the formulation stage and subsequently translated into practice through a process of implementation. Divergence between policy and practice is regarded as failure, and often viewed as the product of weaknesses in the processes for implementing the policy as intended. This paper attempts a critical re-examination of this view, through an empirical study of the development of policy for women and sport in England, which examines what happens to policy beyond the formal stage of formulation. It argues that resistance to policy is best understood by recognizing that policy is not a fixed entity, separate from (and object of) an implementation process; it evolves beyond the formal phase of policy formulation through a process of contestation. The conceptualization of policy as 'text' contributes to this understanding, by emphasizing how arrangements for implementation are integral to what policy becomes. This has implications for the ways in which sports administrators view, and attempt to influence, the sports policy process. |
