Sports Sociology Chapter 13

Politics refers primarily to Select one: a. disagreements that occur in social relationship. b. all actions of government officials. c. processes of organizing power. d. efforts to influence people through official actions.

The author distinguishes between power and authority. Power refers to the ability to influence people and achieve goals, whereas authority refers to Select one: a. duties associated with formal positions held by members of organizations. b. a form of power that comes with a formal office of position. c. a person who has gained control over the lives of others. d. a form of power enabling a person to influence others.

Governments become involved in sports because they often are the only organizations with Select one: a. the authority to pay high salaries to athletes. b. the power and capital needed to sponsor events and build major facilities. c. officials who do not have conflicts of interests related to sports. d. the legal connections needed to deal with national sports leagues.

Research shows that if maintaining health and fitness is the goal, a nation should sponsor sports that are Select one: a. noncompetitive and have aerobic benefits. b. based on a power and performance model. c. attractive to spectators as well as active participants. d. competitive and have important rewards for winners.

Sport programs created for young people who are described as "at risk" often claim to focus on development but the primary focus is on Select one: a. building sport skills. b. organizing communities. c. fostering political action. d. creating a form of social control.

Many governments pay cash rewards to athletes who win Olympic medals because Select one: a. athletes need money to be competitive with people from other countries. b. wins by athletes brings prestige and other benefits to the whole country. c. athletes who get paid become more patriotic and supportive of government. d. every medal won by a country increases per capita income in that country.

Sports bring people together and create "emotional unity," but a sociological understanding of the significance of this unity requires that we ask questions about Select one: a. the characteristics of the athletes who create this unity. b. how the unity affects the performance of sport teams. c. the long term political consequences of the unity. d. the different types of unity created by men's and women's sports.

Research suggests that the impact of successful teams on feelings of national pride and identity Select one: a. is minimal in well-established nations. b. occurs most strongly among women and immigrants. c. leads to major economic changes in a country. d. is the only thing that sustains patriotism in most countries.

When Germany hosted the 1936 Summer Olympics in Berlin, Hitler used the Olympics Games to Select one: a. discover and recruit officers for the German army. b. promote the Nazi ideology of "Nordic supremacy." c. test Jews and gentiles in competitive events. d. isolate the German people from the rest of the world.

When governments sponsor sports and political officials associate themselves with sports, their primary purpose is often to Select one: a. increase their power in international politics. b. increase their legitimacy in the eyes of citizens. c. show voters that sports are connected with politics. d. gain political credibility among journalists.

Government officials are most likely to use sports as a diplomatic tool when Select one: a. vital national interests are at stake. b. they are negotiating crucial national and international policies. c. there is a need for public expressions of unity between different nations. d. national teams are strong and can dominate teams from other nations.

Data on connections between sports and international relations suggests that sports Select one: a. shape important negotiations related to vital national interests in global politics. b. are most often used as forms of public diplomacy. c. only influence political relationships when nations have little power. d. are unrelated to all aspects of international relations.

The history of sports, especially the Olympic Games, shows that the main purpose underlying participation in international sports by most nations has been to Select one: a. promote international understanding. b. control the lives of citizens in repressive ways. c. promoting national political interests. d. create new political leaders.

Nationalistic themes in media coverage of international sports are now accompanied and sometimes obscured by images and narratives that promote Select one: a. social justice and human rights. b. political differences between nations. c. corporate interests and products. d. the patriotism of athletes and coaches.

Sports are likely to foster meaningful cultural exchanges between nations when Select one: a. people share information equally and develop mutual understanding. b. athletes from developing nations win more medals in international events. c. sports produce "cultural converts" to the lifestyles of powerful nations. d. people in traditional cultures abandon folk games and play modern sports.

In the box, Olympism and the Olympic Games, it is noted that the current method of selling media broadcasting rights to the Olympic Games Select one: a. subverts Olympic ideals. b. promotes Olympism. c. benefits small nations. d. decreases coverage seen by Americans.

In the box, Olympism and the Olympic Games, the author explains that the Olympics is now designed primarily to Select one: a. promote international peace and understanding. b. help people understand and accept differences between cultures. c. help people in the television audience visualize forms of global community. d. promote the commercial interests of corporate sponsors.

In the box, Olympism and the Olympic Games, the author endorses the elimination of national medal counts because such counts tend to Select one: a. encourage large nations to boycott the Olympics. b. provide corporations with marketing advantages. c. intensify nationalism and political differences between countries. d. focus too much on the achievements of individual athletes.

In the box, Olympism and the Olympic Games, it is noted that the major advantage for using multiple sites for each Olympic Games would be to Select one: a. increase the value of stocks for major world-wide airlines. b. discourage wealthy nations from submitting bids to host the Games. c. enable corporate sponsors to influence more people around the world. d. make it possible for poorer nations to host Olympic events.

In the box, Olympism and the Olympic Games, the author suggests that the Olympic motto, "Citius, Altius, Fortius," should be replaced by new motto that emphasizes Select one: a. a spirit of patriotism and nationalism. b. health, unity, and peace. c. the problems associated with corporate capitalism. d. the interests of the best athletes in the world.

Changes in global politics over the past three decades have made international sports Select one: a. less important than in the Cold War era of the past. b. more important as political events than as commercial events. c. important stages for commercial displays by transnational corporations. d. less profitable for all sponsors, including corporate sponsors.

Sports in recent years have become framed in new terms. Which of the following best describes this change? Select one: a. Commercial interests have become increasingly important. b. National loyalties and national identities are no longer important. c. Events are now athletic-political rather than athletic-economic. d. Politicians arrange most events today for personal purposes.

Corporate sponsorships of sports are primarily motivated by corporate interest in Select one: a. promoting a way of life based on consumption and consumerism. b. developing a single worldwide standard of living. c. findings new ways to train workers who will produce their goods. d. building sports that bring the world together in large competitive events.

As corporations sponsor more of the media coverage of international sports, sports events have become vehicles for presenting messages Select one: a. to spectator-citizens. b. on behalf of environmental groups. c. in the interest of world-wide socialism. d. to spectator-consumers.

The images and messages presented by the sponsors of major sport events tend to Select one: a. dictate what people think. b. influence what people think about. c. be ignored by nearly all spectators. d. discourage consumption-based lifestyles.

As globalization has occurred, professional sport teams are Select one: a. being moved from one continent to another without considering fans. b. hiring fewer players who are not citizens of the team's country. c. losing fans in their home countries. d. increasingly owned by investors who are not citizens in the team's country.

Which of the following statements related to globalization and athlete migration is NOT true? Select one: a. More U.S-born basketball players play outside the U.S. than in the NBA. b. 80% of the player in the National Hockey League are born outside the U.S. c. Athletes from the U.S. seldom play professionally in other countries. d. Olympic swimmer Missy Franklin is eligible for Canada's Olympic team.

When athletes move from one country to another, it raises important issues. Which of the following is NOT one of those issues? Select one: a. A "sport talent drain" in certain countries. b. A lack of appropriate medical care when athletes are injured. c. The impact of athlete migration on national identity formation. d. The rights of athletes as workers.

To make sense of complex new political realities around the world we should Select one: a. assume that sports are becoming modernized and Americanized. b. ignore global processes and focus on studying local processes. c. study changes on both the global and local levels. d. focus attention on sport forms that have existed for more than 100 years.

The International Olympic Committee does not accept a sport for the Olympic Games unless it is officially sponsored and played in a certain number of nations. This "definition" of sport Select one: a. creates an incentive for National Olympic Committees to fund many sports. b. favors nations that colonized other nations and brought their sports with them. c. allows the IOC to choose new sports in terms of their health benefits. d. favors nations that have large numbers of emigrants.