Current Statuses and Issues of National Sport Organizations Undertaking the “New Public Commons”

Abstract

  In this paper, we define a national sport organization in Japan undertaking the “new public commons” as an organization that is democratically managed by various workers, that establishes their mission in a self-controlled way, that creates cooperation between the public interests of businesses and other organizations, and that maintains its financial independence. In addition, we classify the elements necessary to the organization into four categories:（1）independence or autonomy（mental independence or autonomy, and financial independence）;（2）public welfare;（3）cooperativeness; and（4）diversity and democracy in the organization structure. We, then, elaborate on these four elements of national sport organizations using a questionnaire survey.

  As a result, the problems in each element were revealed. With regard to element（1）, it was suggested that national sport organizations need to set long-term plans and to hire specialists. They also needed to gather membership fees and donations for financial independence. With regard to element（2）, it was revealed that national sport organizations do not regard public interest businesses as important. With regard to element（3）, these organizations need to take an interest in other organizations. Finally, with regard to element（4）, to be a national sport organization undertaking the “new public commons,” it is necessary to change from an organizational structure with homogeneous members and autocracy to an organizational structure with diverse members and democracy.