Rising Actors on the Sport-Political Stage? An Institutional Analysis of Athlete-Centred Sport Governance

Elite athletes have increasingly moved into the spotlight of discussions and academic analyses of global sport governance. Based on the concept of ‘athlete-centrism’, which is fundamental in several fields of sport studies, this thesis approaches the governance of sport from the notion that elite athletes are people and persons with individual and collective rights. The study takes an explicitly political science approach, with institutions as the key unit of analysis. It conceptualises ‘athlete-centred institutions’, as intertemporal social arrangements – including formal rules, laws, and regulations, informal norms and conventions, and organisations – that affect elite athletes’ civil, political and social rights in support of particular values. The empirical research aims are twofold: Adapting analytical frameworks of the neo-institutional literature, this thesis explores 1) whether different collective forms that represent the interests and voice of athletes meet the requirements for political actorness in the governance of sport; and 2) the empirical effects of athlete-centred institutions. The thesis is based on six independent research articles analysing different empirical manifestations of athlete-centred institutions. While each article has its own theoretical framework, empirical evidence, and implications for practice and research, the aims of the thesis are achieved through a joint analysis of their findings. The analysis demonstrates that the two distinct models of athlete collectives, namely athletes’ commissions and athlete associations, face specific challenges in establishing actorness and only athlete associations can be considered as actors in a political sense. To assess the effects of athlete-centred institutions, a framework for examining the relationship between institutions and power is adopted. The analysis unearths a complex relationship between agentic power and the role of institutions in explaining the current status quo of athlete-centrism. While athlete-centred institutions at the global level stem from the structural power of sport governing bodies, institutions at the national level are significantly impacted by institutions of a higher order. Furthermore, existing institutional structures channel the power of athletes. This informs the formulation of an institutional concept of athlete power. The data show that despite the general tendency of institutions to favour the status quo and the prevailing power imbalances in sport governance, it is possible to modify and challenge existing athlete-centred institutions. Three distinct but interrelated pathways of change emerge from the empirical chapters, which synthesise the theoretical and empirical findings of the study and inform strategies for engaging in sport political discourses, processes, debates, and reforms.