Ringing the Changes: How the Relationship between the International Gymnastics Federation and the International Olympic Committee Has Shaped Gymnastics Policy

2020 ◽  
Vol 51 (1) ◽  
pp. 46-63
Author(s):  
Georgia Cervin

This paper examines the governing body of international gymnastics, the Fédération Internationale de Gymnastique (FIG) and its relationship with the International Olympic Committee (IOC). It outlines the nature of the relationship between the two bodies and how that relationship has historically impacted the resulting policy of both organizations. In particular, this research focuses on three main areas of policy. The first is economics and the shift from amateur to professional and commercial gymnastics. When the IOC began to develop commercial interests, the FIG feared losing its purity if it was to follow suit. Second, it explores policy surrounding gender. This is particularly relevant in a sport where each discipline is not only categorized by gender, but also contested on the basis of performance-gendered ideals. And finally, this research examines athlete welfare. Gymnastics is known for its young, docile participant base and, more recently, cases of sexual abuse in the United States. While a range of protective policies have since been created, what existed at an international level before then? I argue that the FIG has had to work within the confines of its Olympic remit in order to retain its relevance to the Olympic behemoth and its inclusion in the Games as gymnastics’ pinnacle event. At the same time, the FIG has mediated Olympic policy and exerted the will of the IOC over stakeholders in gymnastics. Moreover, this relationship is symbiotic: gymnastics is one of the top three most popular Olympic sports, attracting viewership and its attendant commercial benefits to the Games. This research is based on FIG bulletins and IOC correspondence, and it builds on a range of secondary works about the role of International Federations, their policies, and their rules in shaping the sports they govern.

2017 ◽  
Vol 50 (1) ◽  
pp. 241-260 ◽  
Author(s):  
Robert N. Lupton ◽  
Steven M. Smallpage ◽  
Adam M. Enders

The correlation between ideology and partisanship in the mass public has increased in recent decades amid a climate of persistent and growing elite polarization. Given that core values shape subsequent political predispositions, as well as the demonstrated asymmetry of elite polarization, this article hypothesizes that egalitarianism and moral traditionalism moderate the relationship between ideology and partisanship in that the latter relationship will have increased over time only among individuals who maintain conservative value orientations. An analysis of pooled American National Election Studies surveys from 1988 to 2012 supports this hypothesis. The results enhance scholarly understanding of the role of core values in shaping mass belief systems and testify to the asymmetric nature and mass public reception of elite cues among liberals and conservatives.


2020 ◽  
Vol 28 (1) ◽  
pp. 66-71 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nicole Johnson ◽  
Katie Hanna ◽  
Julie Novak ◽  
Angelo P. Giardino

While society at large recognizes the many benefits of sport, it is important to also recognize and prevent factors that can lead to an abusive environment. This paper seeks to combine the current research on abuse in the sport environment with the work of the U.S. Center for SafeSport. The inclusion of risk factors unique to sport and evidence-informed practices provides framing for the scope and response to sexual abuse in sport organizations in the United States. The paper then explores the creation and mission of the U.S. Center for SafeSport, including the role of education in prevention and of policy, procedures, audit, and compliance as important aspects of a comprehensive safeguarding strategy. This paper provides preliminary data on the reach of the Center, established in 2017. This data captures the scope of education and training and the increase in reports to the Center from within the U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Movement.


2017 ◽  
Vol 9 (3) ◽  
pp. 12
Author(s):  
Ahmed M. Asfahani

This research assesses the relationship between intercultural exposure variables—the length of time spent in the United States, the length of previous experience outside Saudi Arabia, the length of time studying English as a second language, and the frequency and nature of interactions with Americans—and intrapersonal identity conflict. To assess this relationship, the researcher conducted a survey of Saudi Arabian students studying in the United States, which collected information on exposure variables, as well as employing Leong and Ward’s (2000) Ethno-Cultural Identity Conflict Scale (EICS). A Pearson correlation test was conducted to examine the relationship between the Saudi sojourners’ intercultural exposure and their identity conflict scores to conclude that there is not a relationship between exposure and identity conflict.


Author(s):  
Pablo A. Baisotti

The pastoral trips of Pope Francis to Cuba and to the United States were not only religious. The political activity that he organized to consolidate the relationship between the two recently reconciled countries was remarkable. Through visits, meetings and masses the Pope expressed his position and concerns about various arguments, beyond the recomposed Cuban-American relationship. During the trip he addressed subjects including the environment, poverty, family, union, freedom, all of which were themes that the Pontiff had clearly stated in his encyclical Laudato Si ‘(2015) and his Apostolic Exhortation Evangelii Gaudium (2013). With this trip, Pope Francis ended up consolidating his status as a global politician as well as a pastor with a high degree of acceptance not only among Catholics.


2011 ◽  
Vol 42 (4) ◽  
pp. 271-278 ◽  
Author(s):  
Adekemi A. Adesokan ◽  
Johannes Ullrich ◽  
Rolf van Dick ◽  
Linda R. Tropp

Research on intergroup contact has recently begun to examine how individual differences moderate the reduction of prejudice. We extend this work by examining the moderating role of diversity beliefs, i.e., the strength of individuals’ beliefs that society benefits from ethnic diversity. Results of a survey among 255 university students in the United States show that the relationship between contact and reduced prejudice is stronger for individuals holding less favorable diversity beliefs compared to those with more positive diversity beliefs. Likewise, the relationship between contact and perceived importance of contact is stronger for people with less favorable diversity beliefs. Together with previously reported moderator effects, these results suggest that contact especially benefits people who are the most predisposed to being prejudiced.


Author(s):  
Radmila S. Ayriyan ◽  
Anastasia A. Komarova

The article examines the relationship between the United States and the DPRK during the first North Korean nuclear crisis. It discusses the events leading up to the crisis and the behavior of both sides and international organizations before and during the crisis. The article draws up the role of South Korea during the escalation of the crisis, as well as influence of other countries interested in resolving the crisis. It analyzes the U.S.-North Korea relationship and the impact of the UN and the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) on the international situation at that time. In this aspect, the study of the Korean nuclear program and the role of the United States has not previously been carried out in Russian historiography. The discussion leads to the design and stages of the KEDO creation with attention to the documents on this international consortium. The situation demonstrates different visions on the USA foreign policy strategy chosen in relation to the DPRK nuclear problem in 1990s, namely the opinion of the United States diplomats working on relations with the DPRK, and American researchers in humanities and technology. The paper concludes with the reasons of the Framework Agreements’ failure that led to the crises.


Author(s):  
Mirelsie Velazquez

The education of Latina/o/x populations in the United States has been the focus of debates, struggles, and community engagement for over 100 years. From linguistic inequalities, deficit perspectives, and community battles, to contemporary rhetoric on access, this entry explores the relationship between schools/schooling and Latina/o/x communities, both historically and in the contemporary context. Important to these narratives is the role of Latinas. To understand their centrality, it is important that the works of Latina and Chicana theorists and scholars are in conversation with one another to contextualize the role of Latinas, whether as community organizers, educators, or mothers, in the education of Latina/o/x populations, and by extension in the overall well-being of their communities. Similarly, the scholarship on and by Latinas complicates the role of stories and their positionality in education research.


Author(s):  
Carol Graham

This chapter goes on to ask who still believes in the American Dream. It begins with a review of what we know about the relationship between inequality, well-being, and attitudes about future mobility. It summarizes what we know from survey data on attitudes about inequality and opportunity in the United States, and then places those attitudes in the context of those in other countries and regions, based on new data and analysis with a focus on individuals' beliefs in the role of hard work in future success. Evidence suggests that the American Dream is very unevenly shared across socioeconomic cohorts. The poor and the rich in the United States lead very different lives, with the former having a much harder time looking beyond day-to-day struggles and associated high levels of stress, while the latter is able to pursue much better futures for themselves and their children, with the gaps between the two likely to increase even more in the future.


2020 ◽  
Vol 34 (4) ◽  
pp. 265-274
Author(s):  
Mykal J. Leslie ◽  
Kathleen Sheppard-Jones ◽  
Malachy L. Bishop

PurposeThe profession of rehabilitation counseling has long been responsive to emerging disabilities. To date, however, the profession's attention and response to the ongoing opioid crisis in the United States has been incommensurate with the scope and detriment of opioids and opioid use disorder (OUD) on Americans with disabilities. The opioid crisis, including the overuse, abuse, and overdose rates associated with prescription and illegal opioids, affects people of all ages and backgrounds. However, people with disabilities are at increased risk for developing OUDs, and they experience greater barriers to OUD treatment than people without disabilities.MethodThis article describes the origins and development of this crisis, the relationship between disability and increased risk for OUD, and the barriers to treatment that exist. We then evaluate the role of rehabilitation counseling, including the need for further action in advocacy, research, education, and policy.Results and ConclusionsThroughout this article, we encourage a more urgent and concerted response than seems to be the case presently.


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