Institutionalisation of the Regional Public Policies on Sport in the Czech Republic

This paper deals with the emerging processes of creation and implementation of regional public policies on sport in the Czech Republic since 2001. It analyses the dynamics between the sport voluntary sector and the public administration. The paper captures the major tenets of the regional public policy for sport and explores the barriers undermining its effective functioning. It is argued that the Czech regional public sport policies are limited by two types of constraints; structural and cognitive. Whereas the structural constraints are defined in terms of politicisation, bureaucratisation, lack of evidence in the policy-making process and lack of interaction, the cognitive constraints are related to the lack of knowledge, the lack of information, the low recognition of sport in the context of other policy issues and the negative public image of public administration. Furthermore, a typology of different styles of support for sport and a typology of different strategies employed by sport associations and clubs to obtain funding are identified. The paper, thus, presents five ideal-types of the regional public support of sport: progressive, bureaucratic, political-clientelist, delegated, and marginalised. Moreover, four different strategies adopted by the sport movement are defined: the adaptation strategy; the pragmatic strategy; the strategy of the marginalised; and the strategy of resignation. The study is based on a qualitative methodology, using a combination of techniques such as semi-structured interviews with public administration officers and representatives of the Czech sport movement, secondary analysis of documents and observations.