During the last presidential campaign, I had a conversation with a friend whose husband was about to do some reporting from the Democratic national convention. She was excited about this prospect and referred to politics as "the greatest sport." I began to think about this characterization and wonder whether or not politics was a sport at all, much less the greatest one. Below I will share my assessment of this issue.
Wikipedia defines a sport as follows:
"A sport consists of a physical activity or skill carried out with a recreational purpose: for competition, for self-enjoyment, to attain excellence, for the development of a skill, or some combination of these. A sport has physical activity, side-by-side competition, and a scoring system. The difference of purpose is what characterizes sport, combined with the notion of individual (or team) skill or prowess."
Let us start by analyzing the elements of sport which seem to be in common with politics.
"For competition" – Clearly, politics is a highly competitive endeavor, whether one is talking about campaigning for office, trying to pass a law, lobbying, or any number of activities, competition against adversaries is a salient feature of politics.
"Has … a scoring system" – Undoubtedly, politics has a scoring system and this may be what gives it a reputation for it being a sport. Its primary scoring system is of course winning votes in an election or in the legislature, but there are other sub scoring systems too, such as raising more campaign contributions than competitors, scoring points in the debate over public policy, gaining a favorable political legacy, etc. Without question, politics has a scoring system.
"For the development of a skill" – It is debatable whether the purpose of politics is development of a skill. Those who wish to advance in the political arena will have to develop certain skills, but these are probably more in the nature of prerequisites than the object of politics.
Now let us review the elements of sport which do not appear to be consistent with politics.
"A sport has physical activity" – While campaign schedules can at times be grueling, it would really be a stretch to consider politics a physical activity. While some of the activities of politics may have physical metaphors associated with them (for example, arm-twisting), I'm afraid that Arnold will need to keep up his workout routine if he wishes to maintain his physique.
" … Carried out with a recreational purpose …the difference of purpose is what characterizes sport" – Here we get to the element of sport where politics clearly does not fit. Sure many people take their sports very seriously. Nevertheless, as compelling and enjoyable as these activities may be, we are talking about participants trying to do things such as throw a ball through a hoop, hit a ball, or outrace other competitors. In other words, while success in sports may take great talent and practice, the activities themselves are contrivances. Participation in sports is wonderful but the contests themselves do not affect others beyond their recreational value and their voluntary support for these activities. The contrast with the political arena cannot be sharper. Whether or not one participates, political activity will have a profound impact on one's life in modern times. It will have an effect on how much of your income you may keep, whether you or your friends or relatives will go to war, what foods and medicines you may partake, and the nature of your education, to name only a few of the significant real-life impacts of the political process. Clearly, while being a political observer may have recreational value for some, politics itself is NOT carried out for recreational purposes.
Conclusion
According to the Wikipedia definition of sport, politics clearly meets some of the criteria, partially meets other elements of the definition, and does not appear to meet the recreational purpose requirement at all. So how does one weigh all of these considerations in deciding whether or not politics is a sport? For me, it comes down to this: If you consider the contests between the subjects who ancient Rome viewed as a threat and hungry predatory animals to be great sport, then politics qualifies. As for me, when I want to enjoy some sports, I will stick with ESPN.
August 15, 2005
