Organized horse-racing in Sweden is often said to be a popular movement. However, to be justly classified as such, certain criteria have to be met. Traditional research on popular movements shows that a number of criteria can be established to characterize this particular kind of movement. If these crtieria are ...
(Show more)Organized horse-racing in Sweden is often said to be a popular movement. However, to be justly classified as such, certain criteria have to be met. Traditional research on popular movements shows that a number of criteria can be established to characterize this particular kind of movement. If these crtieria are not met, we are instead dealing with something of a cause movement or a narrow association.
This study shows that in many aspects, Swedish horse-racing can justly claim to be a popular movement. However, in certain crucial aspects, the way Swedish horse-racing is organized fails to meet the demands for a true popular movement. One of these aspects is the close relationship between the central horse-racing organization and the Swedish government. The government has the majority of votes in the organization that controls distibution of means in Swedish horse-racing, means gathered by gambling and subsequently brought back the horse-racing assosiation. This governmental control of means makes it impossible to classify horse-racing in its organized form as one of the Swedish popular movements.
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