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United we feel stronger? On the Olympics and political ideology

Author

Listed:
  • Josh Matti

    (Georgia Gwinnett College, School of Business)

  • Yang Zhou

    (University of North Texas, College of Liberal Arts & Social Sciences)

Abstract

Collective ideologies are a feature of the Olympic Games as individual athletes represent entire nations. Prior research has explored one dimension of Olympic ideology, finding a link between national pride and hosting the Olympics. This paper extends the literature by considering a wider variety of ideological indicators, including willingness to fight for country, confidence in government, and beliefs about different political systems. The results using a series of global surveys across several decades suggest that success at the Olympics and hosting of the Olympics does not guarantee greater citizen support or government legitimacy. Performance in the Summer Olympics has no consistent effect on the ideological views of survey respondents. In terms of hosting the Summer Olympics, host nations experience an increase in willingness to fight but a decrease in government confidence. These effects vary based upon the level of democratic quality of the host nations.

Suggested Citation

  • Josh Matti & Yang Zhou, 2022. "United we feel stronger? On the Olympics and political ideology," Economics of Governance, Springer, vol. 23(3), pages 271-300, December.
    • Handle: RePEc:spr:ecogov:v:23:y:2022:i:3:d:10.1007_s10101-022-00265-2
    DOI: 10.1007/s10101-022-00265-2
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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Sports; Ideology; Politics; Olympics; World value survey;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • I38 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Welfare, Well-Being, and Poverty - - - Government Programs; Provision and Effects of Welfare Programs
    • Z20 - Other Special Topics - - Sports Economics - - - General
    • Z28 - Other Special Topics - - Sports Economics - - - Policy

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