Society as an industrial concern — an organisation for producing goods and services — is only one aspect of Society. In another aspect it can be likened to a Club; for example, a Sports Club, which exists to afford to its members facilities for participating in various types of sports and games.
The organisation of such a club derives from its purpose. The most general purpose in the case under consideration is to afford a choice of various games to sportsmen. This general purpose is represented by a general committee, and it is the business of that committee to see that resources are available to those who wish to play football as well as to those who wish to play cricket or contract bridge. The rules this committee is entitled to make, therefore, are concerned purely with such general relationships, and are largely concerned to see that the football section does not secure a monopoly of resources.
The rules of particular groups — football, cricket, tennis etc. — are the concern of those groups, and are the function of special committees. Now, as most people, and all sportsmen, are aware, the rules of a game are only, very exceptionally either altered or added to; and when they are, it is with the object of making the conditions of the game more congenial to the player. An improvement in the materials which the game is played may form a justification for altering the rules; and so may the test of a long experience of a particular rule. But such alterations are the particular concern of those participating in the game in question.
There are two vitally important considerations governing the conduct of a sports club. The first is freedom of association. Freedom of association means that individuals are free to join or leave the club as they wish, and equally that they are free to participate in one or other or several of its different activities.
It is not fully true that an individual is free to join, in most cases. In general, he must possess some qualification. In the first place, he must be acceptable to the existing members; in the second, he must (usually) be a bona fide player, either wishing to learn the game, or able to play it.
As regards leaving a club, this is technically called contracting-out. The ability to contract-out of a club, or a section of a club, is of extreme importance, for it is this that safeguards the rights of an individual; it ensures that the conditions governing a particular activity are acceptable to those participating, for if they are not, those concerned will cease to participate, and the activity in question will come to an end. This is the absolutely essential complement to rulemaking. The election of a committee to make rules is merely a convenience; what does matter is the sanctions which can be applied to that committee; and the ultimate sanction is the right to withdraw from its jurisdiction...
"Genuine democracy can very nearly be defined as the right to atrophy a function by contracting out. It is essentially negative, although, contrary to the curious nonsense that is prevalent about 'negativeness', is none the less essential for that reason.
"This genuine democracy requires to be carefully distinguished from the idea that a game is necessarily a bad game simply because you can't or won't play it, and therefore the fact you can't play it is the first recommendation for a chief part in changing the rules. On the contrary, that is an a priori disqualification. For this reason, if for no other, a period of discipline in the prevailing social and economic disciplines in, say, the early twenties, seems highly and pragmatically desirable. No play, no vote. Bad play, Grade 3 vote. But you needn't do either.
The other aspect of this matter is the playing in specific games. Teams for games are not elected; they are selected: And the team itself is under a captain. In matches, we have passed out of the sphere of policy, into the sphere of administration or technique. Consequently, we have the hierarchical form of organisation, and an individual's position in the hierarchy is dependant on his qualifications. And the test is in results, in matches won in competition. As everyone knows, those who fail in the test are replaced, until in time the best possible form of technical administration - the best team - is produced.
The second vitally important general consideration is the idea of sportsmanship. Sportsmanship is an unwritten code which is above all particular games, and is above even the general rules of a multi-sport club. In one aspect it constitutes the ethical system of the club; but it also transcends any particular club...
Sportsmanship is an invisible criterion governing admission to a club; and it is a supra-personal standard restraining the capricious use of the power of contracting-out. Again, it circumscribes all the rule making within the club. No rule incompatible with the code of sportsmanship is conceivable in practice.
A further important principle of a club is its financing. Normally the revenue of a club is derived from the subscriptions of its members (we are excluding the "club" which really exists to make a business out of sport; which employs professionals, and derives its revenue by exhibiting to the public the performances of its employees. But in passing, it may be noted that the existence of genuine clubs exerts a powerful influence on the behaviour of the professional associations.). The income of the members is derived from sources outside the club, and contributed to the club. The committee has the spending of the funds; but it has to justify to the members generally the rate of subscription proposed in relation to the programme of general activities contemplated. Thus members will not approve of unlimited subscriptions to acquire unlimited playing grounds, nor to pay the wages and salaries of redundant employees; nor to accumulate disproportionate reserves. It is incumbent on the committee to show the advantages expected to accrue to the members generally from our contemplated expenditure; and the power to withhold the necessary funds resides in the members. When a general programme is approved, it falls to the committee to carry it into effect; and a failure is properly rewarded by the dismissal of the committee.
The various activities carried on within the club — the games, the social life, the administration of its affairs — are the functional activities of the club. The general pattern of these is derived from the individual desires of the members expressed in their proportional support of these activities. The relative emphasis on one game rather than another comes directly from the number of those who prefer one game to another. On the other hand, one member may participate in several functional activities; he may play two or three games, as well as become a member of the committee. His precise position in the club depends on his choice and on his ability; he may captain the cricket team, but be the first reserve of the football team; he may be the Treasurer, and at the same time "help out" by serving at times behind the bar. The time he spends in various functional activities is determined by his free-will, but conditioned by his "sports-manship". His submission to his captain is voluntary, but — in the ideal member at least — his discipline — self-discipline — is perfect.
It is easy to see that elections play but a small part in the conduct of such a club. For the most part majority decisions are expressed in the actions of the members, as in the playing of various types of games. Provided the cricketer finds the facilities he desires, it is a matter of no consequence to him that perhaps the majority prefer to play tennis. He is concerned only when the majority is so overwhelming that the minority is insufficient to constitute a team, Then he is free to consider the reasons why the majority prefers tennis, and either to give it a trial, or to leave the club, since it no longer serves his specific purpose.
But no member would submit to having the game he would play throughout the season determined by a majority vote in the election sense. Or, what is a variant of the same thing, that he should vote for a committee which would have the power of telling him how much of his time he should spend in the club, and what games he should play in that time.
"Supposing I where to say to you, I am organising a cricket club. You are all cricket enthusiasts, so I feel sure that you will join my club, and will deposit all your title deeds, stocks and shares and other valuables with the secretary as a guarantee that you will obey my orders — you would probably remark that, under the circumstances, you think you'll play golf.
"But supposing you had been brought up to believe that you must play cricket, and you must join my club, and that, of course, placing all your eggs in my basket was only a formality. And supposing that, when you were all neatly registered, I were to say: 'This organisation, which we humourously call a cricket club, is really planned for plainer living, higher thinking, and more painful dying, and you can't resign' — you would complain, wouldn't you? To which the answer is, 'No, you wouldn't, because you, in fact, don't. Most of you merely say that more people must join the club "full employment."
Bryan W. MONAHAN