Building Social Capital Through Sport, Culture
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BUILDING SOCIAL CAPITAL THROUGH SPORT, CULTURE AND RECREATION: AN EXPERIMENT IN COLLABORATIVE GOVERNANCE IN SASKATCHEWAN USING THE PROCEEDS OF STATE-DIRECTED GAMBLING A Thesis Submitted to the Faculty of Graduate Studies and Research In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements For the Degree of Special Case Doctor of Philosophy Interdisciplinary University of Regina by Lynn Eileen Gidluck Regina, Saskatchewan July 2015 © 2015: L.E. Gidluck UNIVERSITY OF REGINA FACULTY OF GRADUATE STUDIES AND RESEARCH SUPERVISORY AND EXAMINING COMMITTEE Lynn Eileen Gidluck, candidate for the degree of Special Case Doctor of Philosophy Interdisciplinary, has presented a thesis titled, Building Social Capital Through Sport, Culture and Recreation: An Experiment in Collaborative Governance in Saskatchewan Using The Proceeds of State-Directed Gambling, in an oral examination held on June 19, 2015. The following committee members have found the thesis acceptable in form and content, and that the candidate demonstrated satisfactory knowledge of the subject material. External Examiner: *Dr. Luc Theriault, University of New Brunswick Co-Supervisor: Dr. Gregory Marchildon, Johnson-Shoyama Graduate School Co-Supervisor: Dr. Raymond Blake, Department of History Committee Member: Dr. Rozzet Jurdi, Department of Sociology & Social Studies Committee Member: Dr. Larena Hoeber, Faculty of Kinesiology & Health Studies Committee Member: *Dr. Colin S. Campbell, One-Time Graduate Committee Member Chair of Defense: Dr. Laurie Clune, Faculty of Nursing *via SKYPE ABSTRACT When states make the decision to increase government revenue from gambling, they have to mediate between a range of options for operating, regulating and controlling an industry viewed by many people to produce more public harm than benefits. Very little research has been conducted that explores the interface between the generation of revenue from state-directed gambling and efforts that governments make to use this revenue source for a social purpose. This study addresses this gap by exploring the choices available to governments for how to use gambling revenue. Cross-national comparative research reveals that the Canadian province of Saskatchewan is the only jurisdiction in North America -- and one of only six places in the world -- where the government licenses a nonprofit agency to both operate a state lottery and work with civil society organizations to determine priorities for these public funds. Saskatchewan is unique in that it is the only jurisdiction where a sports’ federation has the monopoly license to operate lotteries. The operator of the lottery is also the central funding body for amateur sport, providing core funding and project grants for most aspects of the province’s amateur sport system. Grounded theory methodology under the interpretivist paradigm was used to analyze interview and focus group data of 123 participants with knowledge of the history and outcomes of Saskatchewan’s lottery-funded sport, culture and recreation system. Evidence from this policy case study suggests that if governments want to maximize the social benefits from gambling, valuable lessons can be drawn from the model developed in Saskatchewan. One of the most important findings from this research is the promise i that collaborative governance arrangements like the lottery system in Saskatchewan have for empowering communities and creating social capital. This case study documented the type of mechanisms necessary to connect the voluntary sector with government to create a shared sense of purpose and develop programs that facilitate community empowerment. Governments can maximize their ability to address policy problems with public funds by leveraging additional resources and garnering community support by working in a collaborative fashion with private participants. Policy environments that encourage the formation and support of a large number of small, civil society organizations hold great promise for fulfilling public mandates. These findings have implications that extend beyond gambling policy. The case study described in these pages meets almost every measure of what constitutes “best practices” in the literature on collaborative governance arrangements. Themes that emerged from the grounded theory analysis, with insight from related fields such as organizational empowerment, social capital and management of common-pool resources, formed the basis for the development of an analytical framework. Practical advice is offered on how to design and implement collaborative governance arrangements that facilitate organizational empowerment and collective ownership by the partners in such relationships. Keywords: Lotteries; gambling; sport, culture, recreation; social capital; collaborative governance; organizational empowerment; agenda setting; institutional change; grounded theory; oral history; case study; public policy; Saskatchewan; wicked policy. ii ACKNOWLEDGMENTS I feel privileged to have had the opportunity to do this research and tell the stories of the individuals who helped build the lottery-funded sport, culture and recreation system in Saskatchewan. My life is richer because of the people I interviewed and who participated in my focus groups – people who care deeply about their communities. They inspired me and I sincerely hope I manage, by conveying what I learned from them, to do the same for people reading this dissertation. I am very grateful to Dr. Greg Marchildon and Dr. Raymond Blake for agreeing to be my supervisors for this project. Their advice and feedback on earlier drafts of this thesis and throughout the process of researching and writing was invaluable. Thank you also to my committee members: Dr. Colin S. Campbell, Dr. Larena Hoeber and Dr. Rozzet Jurdie. I had the good fortune to take classes from all of them (as well as Dr. Blake). Researching and writing this dissertation would have been so much more difficult if I had not learned what I did from them early in the process. I also count myself fortunate for receiving a Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council Joseph-Bombardier Canada Graduate Scholarship as well as funding from the Faculty of Graduate Studies and Research. This funding allowed me to immerse myself in my research for a concentrated period of time. Finally, I would be remiss if I did not single out my partner Pat Rediger, who first suggested that this topic might be an interesting idea for a dissertation. His love, support and encouragement throughout my Ph.D. journey means so much to me. I could never have accomplished this without him. A strong circle of friends, too numerous to single out, also kept me going when times were the hardest. iii POST DEFENSE ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I would like to thank my external examiner, Dr. Luc Thériault from the University of New Brunswick, for his constructive feedback and ideas for future research directions. iv TABLE OF CONTENTS Page Abstract ............................................................................................................................... i Acknowledgements ........................................................................................................... iii Post Defense Acknowledgements......................................................................................iv Table of Contents ............................................................................................................... v List of Tables .................................................................................................................... ix List of Figures .................................................................................................................... x List of Acronyms and Abbreviations ................................................................................ xi Key Policy Events Related to Lotteries and Sport, Culture and Recreation .................... xii Chapter One: Introduction to the Study ....................................................................... 1 1.1 Significance of Research..................................................................................... 2 1.2 Saskatchewan: An Introduction ......................................................................... 3 1.3 Gambling in Canada ........................................................................................... 4 1.4 Unique Approach Taken with Lotteries in Saskatchewan .................................. 5 1.5 Research Questions ........................................................................................... 10 1.6 Research Design................................................................................................ 11 1.7 An Overview of the Chapters to Follow ........................................................... 13 Chapter Two: Theoretical Frameworks and Literature Review ............................. 19 2.1 Theoretical Frameworks ................................................................................... 20 2.1.1 Agenda Setting and Policy Formation ..................................................... 20 2.1.2 Historical Institutionalism and Path Dependency .................................... 22 2.1.3 Institutional Effectiveness Theories ........................................................ 24 2.2 Literature Review.............................................................................................. 26 2.2.1 Public Policy and the History and Regulation of Gambling .................... 26 2.2.1.1 Problem Gambling and