Towards a Market Based Sport System? A Critical Analysis of the Hungarian Sport Policy 1989-90

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Abstract (max. 250 words):
The collapse of communism in 1989 was a moment of such enormous historical importance that Francis Fukuyama was able to advance his now famous thesis that this change was inevitable, given the existence of a worldwide historical evolutionary trend towards liberal capitalism. In his view, liberal capitalism marks the most desirous “end of history,” the most rational and enlightened way of organizing society. In contrast, contemporary sociological examination of capitalist institutions begins with the observation that there are different paths leading towards capitalism. These not only depend on the endowments of economic actors but also on institutionalized patterns of authority and organizational logic that are historically developed and resistant to change. National markets, then, differ systematically according to the kinds of resources and frameworks that particular national model provides.
This paper analyzes the causes and consequences of the ratification of Bill No IX in 1989 "Role of Sport Organizations" and also pays particular attention to the importance of this Bill on the further development of sport policy in Hungary. Although sport has so often been portrayed as a victim of the transition process, this paper argues that it has been the Hungarian sport community’s action (or lack of action) that has driven the sport policy development process in a particular, later most criticized direction.
The historically close relationship between the state and the sport community would not be eradicated, even by enhanced marketization, democratization, and liberalization. In Hungary the state continues to play a strong role in sport and in Hungary the transition process stimulated the expansion of governing capacities not through the transformation of public-private partnerships but through the configuration of central-local governmental relationship.



Brief Professional Bio (max. 100 words):
Dr Emese Ivan is an Assistant Professor of Sport Management at St John’s University (New York). Her teaching and research focuses on sport sociology, management, and role that sport plays in building a more just society worldwide.