A Deliberative Democratic Approach to Athlete-Centred Sport: The Dynamics of Administrative and Communicative Power

This article examines the sport policy process in realizing an athlete-centred sport system through the lens of deliberative democracy. We examine the development of an athlete-centred system largely in the context of Canadian high performance sport; however global aspects of this trend are recognized. Athlete-centred initiatives in light of Habermas's (1996) deliberative democracy theory's core concepts of administratively employed power and communicatively generated power are discussed. In particular, we demonstrate instances of communicative power's counter-steering capabilities of the state's use of administrative power. The tensions between administrative and communicative power illustrated through efforts towards establishing an athlete-centred system are also presented. We conclude by discussing the implications for the potential for a deliberative democratic approach in realizing an athlete-centred sport system and raise important issues about its development.