Sports Clubs and Civil Society in Switzerland and Denmark: A Comparison

Sports clubs are a core element of the Swiss as well as Danish sports landscape. In both countries, sports clubs play a crucial role in civil society and are accredited with various socio-political functions. Sports clubs can promote public health, social integration and democratic decision-making, particularly through voluntary work by the members. The aim of this contribution is to compare these functions of sports clubs in the context of two different sport systems. Based on the data of the European research project, Social Integration and Volunteering in Sports Clubs (SIVSCE), we analyze differences and similarities between Swiss and Danish sports clubs with a special focus on the contribution of sports clubs to public health, integration, democratic engagement and volunteering. Our analyses show that sports clubs in Denmark focus more on health enhancing physical activity than those in Switzerland, whereas in Swiss sports clubs competitive sport and conviviality as well as social integration and democratic decision-making are more important. It is argued that these differences between the two countries may be due to historical differences in the importance that non-competitive gymnastics and health promotion has had in sport clubs in the two countries; a trade-off between high participation in non-competitive sports activities in sports clubs and relatively low participation in both social activities and the clubs’ internal democracy in Denmark; and that the greater participation in member democracy in sports clubs can be linked to the strong participatory democratic tradition in Switzerland.