Playing Offense: How Athletes are Impacting a Changing Administrative State

• Author: Michael Blair Thomas,Jamie Levine Daniel
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.1177/00953997221102612
• Published date: 01 November 2022
• Date: 01 November 2022
• Subject Matter: Perspectives

https://doi.org/10.1177/00953997221102612

Administration & Society

2022, Vol. 54(10) 2101 –2120

© The Author(s) 2022

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DOI: 10.1177/00953997221102612

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Perspectives

Playing Offense: How

Athletes are Impacting a

Changing Administrative

State

Michael Blair Thomas1

and Jamie Levine Daniel2

Abstract

The start of the 2020s presents a broken American administrative system

plagued by state ineptitude in a time of turmoil and government distrust.

In their protests, marginalized citizens have seen their voices amplified by

integral parts of their communities for whom they have cheered: Athletes.

This Perspective draws attention to the idea of super citizens and their

ability to influence policy. We argue that Black athlete activism that

centers their social reality and legitimizes Black Lives Matter for broader

populations is one example of a punctuated equilibrium that work to

achieve administrative state change.

Keywords

administrative state, Black Lives Matter, citizen engagement, protest, social

justice, sport, systemic racism

1Florida State University, Tallahassee, USA

2Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis, USA

Corresponding Author:

M. Blair Thomas, Gov. Reubin O’D. Askew School of Public Administration & Policy, Florida

State University, P.O. Box 3062250, 113 Collegiate Loop, Tallahassee, FL 32306, USA.

Email: mbt12@my.fsu.edu

1102612AAS0010.1177/00953997221102612Administration & SocietyThomas and Daniel

research-article2022

2102 Administration & Society 54(10)

The American administrative state has faced extraordinary challenges over

the past two years, many of which highlight profound disparities (Chatters

et al., 2021; Vilda et al., 2021; Yearby, 2021) stemming from state ineptitude

in a time of turmoil and government distrust. The May 2020 murder of

Minneapolis resident George Floyd at the hands of then-Minneapolis police

officer Derek Chauvin ignited domestic discussion systemic racism and

White nationalism (Thomas & Wright, 2021; Wright & Thomas, 2022).

Floyd’s death coupled with an overwhelming swell of support for Black

Lives Matter (BLM, hereafter) generated the largest protests in the nation’s

history in July 2020 (Buchanan et al., 2020), with current and former Black

athletes among the forefront (Thomas & Wright, 2021; Wright & Thomas,

2022). Amid this confluence of events, we are witnessing an administrative

state positioned to make policy changes based on the influence of powerful

citizen actors who have exercised an impact on public opinion, at a specific

moment in time.

Historically relegated to legitimization only in the American popular cul-

ture spheres of fashion, music and style, the influence of the Black athlete has

been celebrated in nearly all corners of the United States except in the politi-

cal sphere. This structural disempowerment reflects the concept of Othering,

in which a small group of people decide who counts as citizens, with rights to

services. More specifically, Powell and Menendian (2016) describe Othering

as “a set of dynamics, processes, and structures that engender marginality and

persistent inequality across any of the full range of human differences based

on group identities.” According to Roberts (2021), public administration

scholars often use “citizen” to refer to the general population in a given juris-

diction without explicit definition. However, “citizen” has a distinct legal

connotation, often related to political status and/or affiliation with a sover-

eign state (Alexander, 2021; Shearing & Wood, 2003). People viewed as citi-

zens are subject to and granted protections by the state. Non-citizens are not

necessarily afforded these same protections, and, in some instances, may be

viewed as a threat to the state. In these cases, they are Othered, often along

lines of race, gender, and/or religion.

Dating to the ancient civilizations of Greece and Rome and continuing

into the current Western and non-Western societies of today, athletes exercise

a powerful role in shaping public opinion due to the role of sports as a pur-

veyor of culture and public identity (Houlihan, 1997; Reid, 2017; Tomlinson

& Young, 2006). They can be viewed as “super citizens” (Pope, 1997), who

have the respect and admiration of the masses, specifically from the commu-

nities that they represent. This relationship may allow them a way to break

down the boundaries that Other them, providing a platform to increase aware-

ness of political, social, and human rights issues.