On the Structural Change in Voluntary Organisations: The Case of the "German Sports Association" ("DSB")

In: International review for the sociology of sport: irss ; a quarterly edited on behalf of the International Sociology of Sport Association (ISSA), Band 19, Heft 1, S. 31-46

Abstract

Following the empiric example of sports associations in the Federal Republic of Germany, those structural changes are analyzed which a voluntary (associative) organization undergoes when its function changes. When an organization having a "democratic- cooperative" basis, such as the Deutsche Sportbund (DSB), assumes quasi-public functions, its internal structure is changed. This, in addition to the existing honorary and "democratic" elements, leads to a new hierarchical order of professional functionaries with completely new recruiting procedures and an extension of their decision-making and management functions.