Abstract
The purposes of this study were to clarify the changes that occur in the relationship between the actors in the elite sports policy in ‘Z’ prefecture and to show the problem and its solution by the actors. As a methodology, the Dynamic Interdependence model and the Policy Network Theory were used. Before the National Sports Festival (after ; NSF) was held in the prefecture, sports administration was included in the health and physical education (after ; H&PE) division. Various actors had the same goal of the overall victory of the NSF. This consensus formed an “internal condition”. There was no testimony about “mutual reference” of other prefectures or “side-by-side competition” with other prefectures. The actors formed a positive-sum relationship. The H&PE Division controlled the prefectural sports associations and sports federations by its finance and personnel and made the relationships within various actors positive-sum. It was thought that the “policy community” led to the continuity of the measures. After the NSF, changes of “internal condition” due to changes in the political, economic, and social environment in the prefecture might have been a factor of the innovation of competitive sports measures. Furthermore, “mutual reference” and “side-by-side competition” were also considered as factors of its innovation. On the other hand, as the number of actors increased, the issue of cooperation among various actors was seen in the measures for the school athletic club. For constructing a system for promoting cooperation among the actors, a new council was established. Therefore, the relationships among the actors were shifted from a stable “policy community” to the “issue network” with a relatively low degree of interdependence. After this effort, policy innovations have been seen in the competitive sports measures, therefore it was suggested that smart HR management could be a solution to promote policy innovation.
