This article analyses the sources of knowledge New Zealand sport and recreation policy-makers rely on when forming public policy. Specifically, utilizing a Foucauldian lens of governmentality, we consider how New Zealand sport and recreation policy is influenced by various sources of knowledge. Through analysis of official policy documents, media releases and interviews with senior New Zealand policy managers, we argue that despite claims of positivistic, `evidence-based' policy, writers draw on a wide range of knowledge sources. Thus, despite being governed by positivism, policy-makers themselves utilize other, multifarious sources of knowledge in order to construct national sport policy. We offer considerations for the future setting of such public policy, and in particular suggest the existing rationale for the formulation of public policy could be altered to acknowledge these wide ranging knowledges.
Australian Sports Commission (2008) Australian Sports Commission: Statement of Intent. Available online at: [www.ausport.gov.au], accessed 20 May 2008.
2.
Bercovitz, K. (1998) `Canada's Active Living Policy: A Critical Analysis' , Health Promotion International13(4): 319-28.
3.
Bercovitz, K. (2000) `A Critical Analysis of Canada's ``Active Living'': Science or Politics?', Critical Public Health10(1): 19-39.
4.
Chalip, L. (1996) `Critical Policy Analysis: The Illustrative Case of New Zealand Sport Policy Development', Journal of Sport Management10: 310-24.
5.
Cleaver, D. (2005) `Melbourne Medal Count Expected to Top 46', The New Zealand Herald, 11 December, available online at: [http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/4/story.cfm?c_id=4&objectid=10359], accessed 8 August 2008.
6.
Danziger, M. (1995) `Policy Analysis Postmodernized', Policy Studies Journal23(3): 435-50.
7.
Forester, J. (1993) Critical Theory, Public Policy and Planning Practice: Towards a Critical Pragmatism. Albany: State University of New York Press.
8.
Foucault, M. (1974) `Human Nature: Justice versus Power', in F. Elders (ed.) Reflexive Water: The Basic Concerns of Mankind, pp. 135-97. London: Souvenir.
9.
Foucault, M. (1980a) `Truth and Power', in C. Gordon (ed.) Power/Knowledge: Selected Interviews and Other Writings 1972-1977, pp. 109-33. Harlow: Harvester Press.
10.
Foucault, M. (1980b) `Two Lectures', in C. Gordon (ed.) Power/Knowledge: Selected Interviews and Other Writings 1972-1977, pp. 78-108. Harlow: Harvester Press.
11.
Foucault, M. (1980c) `Body/power', in C. Gordon (ed.) Power/Knowledge: Selected Interviews and Other Writings 1972-1977, pp. 55-62. Harlow: Harvester Press.
12.
Foucault, M. (1984) The History of Sexuality, Volume 2: The Use of Pleasure. London: Penguin Books .
13.
Foucault, M. (1988) `The Ethic of Care for the Self as a Practice of Freedom: An Interview with Michel Foucault on January 20, 1984', in J. Bernauer and D. Rasmussen (eds) The Final Foucault, pp. 1-20. Cambridge, MA: The MIT Press.
14.
Foucault, M. (1994) `Governmentality', in J. Faubion (ed.) Michel Foucault: Power, Essential Works of Foucault 1954-1984, Vol. 3, pp. 201-22. London : Penguin.
15.
Graham, J., Collins, D., Devoy, S., Mackay, J., Palmer, F., Simmonds, M. and Turner, G. (2001) Getting Set for an Active Nation: Report of the Sport, Fitness and Leisure Ministerial Taskforce. Wellington : Author.
16.
Green, M. (2004a) `Changing Policy Priorities for Sport in England: The Emergence of Elite Sport Development as a Key Policy Concern', Leisure Studies23(4): 365-85.
17.
Green, M. (2004b) `Power, Policy, and Political Priorities: Elite Sport Development in Canada and the United Kingdom', Sociology of Sport Journal21(4): 376-96.
18.
Green, M. and Houlihan, B. (2006) `Governmentality, Modernization, and the "Disciplining" of National Sporting Organizations: Athletics in Australia and the United Kingdom', Sociology of Sport Journal23: 47-71.
19.
Hammersley, M. (2005) `The Myth of Research-based Practice: The Critical Case of Educational Inquiry', International Journal of Social Research Methodology8(4): 317-30.
20.
Hill, N. (Speaker) (2002) Interview, National Sport Policy (Radio Interview), 15 June, 1332AM, Auckland, NZ.
21.
Hill, N. (Speaker) (2003) Interview, National Sport Policy (Radio Interview), 29 March, 1332AM, Auckland, NZ.
22.
Kelsey, J. (1999) Reclaiming the Future: New Zealand and the Global Economy. Wellington: Bridget Williams Books.
23.
Milewa, T. and Barry, C. (2005) `Health Policy and the Politics of Evidence', Social Policy and Administration39(5): 489-512.
24.
Naughton, M. (2005) `Evidence-based Policy and the Government of the Criminal Justice System - Only If the Evidence Fits!', Critical Social Policy25: 47-69.
25.
Piggin, J. (forthcoming)
26.
Piggin, J., Jackson, S. and Lewis, M. (2007) `Classify, Divide and Conquer: Shaping Physical Activity Discourse through National Public Policy', New Zealand Sociology22(2): 274-93.
27.
Rose, N. (1990) Governing the Soul: The Shaping of the Private Self. London: Routledge.
28.
Rose, N. (1999) Powers of Freedom: Reframing Political Thought . Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
29.
Rose, N. and Miller, P. (1992) `Political Power beyond the State: Problematics of Government', British Journal of Sociology43(2): 173-205.
30.
Sam, M.P. (2003) `What's the Big Idea? Reading the Rhetoric of a National Sport Policy Process', Sociology of Sport Journal20(3): 189-213.
31.
Sam, M.P. (2005) `The Makers of Sport Policy: A Task(Force) to be Reckoned With', Sociology of Sport Journal22(1): 78-99.
32.
Sam, M.P. and Jackson, S.J. (2004) `Sport Policy Development in New Zealand: Paradoxes of an Integrative Paradigm', International Review for the Sociology of Sport39(2): 205-22.
33.
Sport and Recreation New Zealand (Sparc) ( 2002) Our Vision, Our Direction, Strategies for Success through 2006. Wellington, NZ: Author.
34.
Sport and Recreation New Zealand (2006) Sparc Statement of Intent, 2006-2009. Wellington, NZ: Author.
35.
Sport and Recreation New Zealand (2007) Sparc Statement of Intent, 2007-2010. Wellington: Author.
36.
Sport Canada (2002) The Canadian Sport Policy. Nunavut: Author.
37.
Sport England (2004) The Framework for Sport in England. Making England an Active and Successful Sporting Nation: A Vision for 2020. London: Author.
38.
Stone, D.A. (2002) Policy Paradox: The Art of Political Decision Making . New York: W.W. Norton.
39.
Torgerson, D. (1986) `Between Knowledge and Politics: Three Faces of Policy Analysis', Policy Sciences19(1): 33-60.
40.
Weed, M. (2003) `Why the Two Won't Tango! Explaining the Lack of Integrated Policies for Sport and Tourism in the UK', Journal of Sport Management17: 258-83.
41.
Wells, J. (2005) `Results on the Scoreboard: What Makes a Winning Team?', The Director3(3): 12-14.
