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TSE Commentator

May / June 2009
Should international sports organisations continue to use a 'one-country one-vote' system?
 Yes       No

Our Opinion

"One-country one-vote": helping or hurting?

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Most international sports organisations use a 'one-country one-vote' decision- making system. Arguments can be made that this system results in truly democratic and fair decisions. However, although promoted as a democratic mechanism, it can actually lead to unintentionally promoting undemocratic behaviour. By giving a disproportional amount of influence to members that are often not greatly affected by the decisions being made, members can slant their vote in an effort to promote other causes. The effects can be detrimental or even destructive. As the European Union considers moving away from such a system and the United Nations has instilled mechanisms to protect against the tyranny of the numeric majority by protecting the most important members by giving them veto rights, it is perhaps time for federations to ask themselves what is the best system in ensuring successful outcomes for their sport.

-TSE Consulting

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Your Opinion

Should international sports organisations continue to use a 'one-country one-vote' system?

No

59%



Yes

41%



Your Comments

Posted By: Paul Freudensprung | 2010-04-26 20:52:14

The share of voting power could be related directly to the number of federated athletes (amateur and professional) in each country, or other parameters that are a good indicator of...
Posted By: SA | 2010-04-26 20:52:14

The system is too often beeing misused...
Posted By: K.Q. | 2010-04-26 20:52:14

Countries that contribute significantly more to the sport should have more say. It is not fair when a country highly involved in the development of the sport gets the same...
Posted By: Brian Dean | 2010-04-26 20:52:14

The one-vote, one-country system doesn't work because too many countries vote about something which does not mean much to them. They are then beeing used for other purposes....