SPORTS AND PHYSICAL-EDUCATION POLITICS IN FRANCE

This study focused on national policies regarding sport and physical e ducation in France. State intervention was analyzed during the period covering the second half of the twentieth century, from two perspectiv es: as a process that regulated and legitimized leisure practices, and as a set of interventions marked by indecision, partial commitments a nd economic restraints. An analysis of the government's actions showed three types of intervention: partial support for sports organisations ' initiatives; definition of the orientations and rules for organizing sports and physical education; and regulation and mediation between t he various groups involved.