Funktionale Institutionen-Bildung in der Anti-Dopingpolitik der Bundesrepublik Deutschland: Akteureinflüsse, Akteurkonstellationen, Akteurinteraktionen

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Abstract

Starting from the assumption that there is a strong, almost inseparable connection between politics and organised sport, this thesis examines the efforts of German politics to tackle the problem of doping in sports. More specifically, the dissertation tries to detect if there is such a thing as target-oriented institution-building in German anti-doping-politics using the theoretical framework of actor-centered institutionalism as an analytic toolbox. To reach a conclusion, three hypotheses are generated and tested:
1. Due to the fact that anti-doping-politics takes place in the mixed field of sports and politics, there is a great variety of relevant actors possessing differing power resources.
2. The structure of the policy-field creates a distinct resistance against change. Actor constellations can be described best by using game theoretical constellations favouring consensus.
3. Interactions between actors are dominated by the mode of distributive bargaining. The complete delegation of the task to fight doping to a specific organisation is as unlikely as the establishment of a sound financial responsibility to back this endeavour.
As a first step, a broad overview regarding different attempts to analyse doping and its implications for sports and society (originating from sociology, ethic studies and economics) is given and supplemented with an outline of relevant definitions and the most important developments in the past twenty years. Next the existing conceptions on sport-politics and doping from a political science perspective are examined. Using these ideas as an entrance way into a deep analysis of anti-doping-politics, the thesis settles on the framework of actor- centered institutionalism as a promising way to engage with the analysis of anti-doping- politics in Germany. Starting from Scharpfs’ proposition that institutions are “systems of rules that structure the courses of actions that a set of actors may choose” (Scharpf 1997: 239) elements from principal-agent-approach and Arts’ three faces of power are integrated into the main theoretical framework to adjust the approach of actor-centered institutionalism to fit the field of sport-politics and the fight against doping
To establish an overview on the positions, aims and goals of actors in the field of anti- doping-politics, minutes from plenary sessions of the Deutscher Bundestag and Deutscher Bundesrat are examined as well as protocols of the meetings of the Deutscher Olympischer Sportbund and the conference of federal states’ secretaries for sport. In addition, policy
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papers as well as annual reports from the National-Anti-Doping-Organisation (NADA) are used as sources of direct information. Furthermore, 14 semi-structured interviews with experts in the field of anti-doping-policy as well as representatives of political parties, government and sports organisations were carried out.
Based on the extracted information three categories of relevant actors are clustered: Strategic actors in the national context (government, federal states, parties, DOSB and NADA), actors without a common strategy (athletes, juridical experts, sponsors and media) and international actors (WADA, IOC, EU, Council of Europe, UNESCO). The political positions, goals and strategies of those actors are sorted, described and compared.
Afterwards, the focus turns into the direction of recent developments regarding the two most pressing political controversies in the field of anti-doping-politics: The thesis examines the struggle to secure a solid financial backing for the National Anti-Doping-Organisation as well as the long living debate regarding the necessity to establish a specific legislation handling the issue of doping in sport. Main point of this debate has been the unsolved question of whether sport authorities or public authorities should be in first position to penalize misconduct by athletes. Even though the federal elections in 2013 lead to a coalition agreement promising financial backing for the NADA and the establishment of specific anti- doping-legislation, not all the hypotheses prove to be right:
While the assumption regarding the great variety of actor and power resources proves to be true, the conjecture that consent-oriented constellations would dominate the field of anti- doping-politics, turns out to be disputable. Especially since 2013, both central controversies turned into conflict-dominated constellations: The fight regarding the financial backing for the NADA became a chicken game, the controversy on further anti-doping-legislation developed into a prisoner’s dilemma.
Finally, the assumption regarding the dominance of distributive bargaining as the main course of interaction seems to be out of date. Especially the confrontational strategy of the federal government in the process to implement an anti-doping-legislature refutes this hypothesis. By threatening to act unilateral, the federal government revealed the fact that the prevalence for distributive bargaining had all along been darkened by the shadow of an existing hierarchy.
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Regarding the overall question of whether there is such a thing as target-oriented institution building in anti-doping-politics in Germany, the thesis concludes that institution building strongly depends on costs and gains: While the last years have witnessed the implementation of stronger public legislation on doping, there is still no institution regulating the long-term financial responsibility for the fight against doping.
Original languageGerman
Place of PublicationKöln
PublisherDeutsche Sporthochschule Köln
Number of pages338
Publication statusPublished - 2017

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