There is a growing field of literature concerning the staging, management and planning for large scale sports events; the evaluation of these events and the reasons why nations, but more recently cities, attempt to host these events, but few studies have attempted to provide a theoretically informed analysis of the processes by which these decisions are made. This study builds upon those existing studies in this area which outlined a method for exploring decisions to host, but furthers the analysis through the consideration of policy models, most notably the Multiple Streams Framework (Kingdon, 1984), in order to provide a sophisticated understanding of how such policy decisions are taken at the local level. Within the context of a critical realist epistemology, case studies of three United Kingdom bids (Sheffield s bid for the 1991 Universiade; Manchester s bid for the 2000 Olympic Games and Glasgow s bid for the 2014 Commonwealth Games) were undertaken. Content analysis of documents, triangulated with semi-structured interviews with the majority of key actors involved in, and excluded from, the processes were carried out in order for geographical, methodological and theoretical triangulation to be undertaken. The three bids were selected from across a twenty year period in order to test the hypothesis that the decision-making process for events would had become more and centrally-led over time. The results indicate that, while no analytical framework provides a perfect fit , the Multiple Streams Framework and its focus on policy entrepreneurialism is highly useful in explaining the elevation of these events onto local political agendas. Despite the increased centralisation of United Kingdom sport policy, local/regional actors were able to operate with surprising freedom and take advantage of apparent coincidences in order to achieve their objectives. The wider implications of these results include providing a stimulus for researchers to build upon the limited body of literature that applies policy theory to sports policy issues and also to stimulate research in the international context.

The research analyses stability and change in the English/British elite sport policy landscape in the period 2005 to early 2014. In the context of a recession and change of government, the policy environment could be described as turbulent and cuts to public funding and commitment to deregulation have been key features of the overarching policy landscape. There was an assumption that elite sport would not be immune from the policy turbulence. The policy landscape is described as consisting of three elements: organisations, public funding and political salience. The original contribution of the thesis is threefold: first, in relation to the empirical study of the relative impact of the political and economic turbulence on the elite sport system; second, in the application of institutional theory and punctuated equilibrium theory to the analysis of elite sport policy; and third, the application of theory to explain the extent of stability uncovered through the empirical research. The research used a case study approach. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 20 senior officials from sport in England/the UK from both sport-specific NGBs and organisations with wider, national remits for elite sport and incorporating both government and non-government organisations. Due to the sample of interviewees, the nuances of elite interviewing were an important consideration for the researcher. A document analysis study was also carried out. Through the existing literature and the data gathered, three cases emerged and were examined in depth: youth talent search and development; nurturing and transferring talent; and sustaining world class athletes. Thematic analysis was used to examine the data. The data revealed that the policy landscape was, for the most part, stable in the period studied. There were changes to the intensity of financial and political support and refinements of policy objectives, especially due to the hosting of the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games, but the overall policy aims remained consistent. The reasons identified for this stability were as follows: the absence of an alternative, critical lobby; strong leadership in the sector; and the hosting of the London 2012 Games. The long-term impact of Labour s Modernisation agenda was found to have contributed to the stable governance of elite sport, which includes a structure for decision-making and accountability around funding of NGBs by UK Sport. Historical Institutionalism was found to offer the most useful meso-level framework for analysis of the data and clear critical junctures and path formation phases could be identified.