Politics and Sports in America: Parallels and Intersections (Routledge Research in American Politics and Governance)

Politics and Sports in America offers a fresh perspective on the dynamic relationship between athletics and political life in the United States.While recent scholarship has focused on the rise of athlete activism, few political scientists have examined sports through a distinctly American lens.Most existing studies emphasize international contexts. Thomas R. Morris and Daniel J. Palazzolo address this gap by examining the intersections of sports and politics across multiple dimensions: citizenship and civic identity, the balance between national and local forces, the role of elite athletes in advancing democratic principles such as equality and liberty, the tension between individualism and collective action, and the striking parallels between rival sports teams and polarized political parties.They also explore how politicians intentionally engage with sports through policy decisions and symbolic gestures.Taken together, these perspectives reveal how the relationship between sports and