Gamesmanship

In certain situations possession of rights is determined by the rules and conditions of some form of game. Ownership may then be said to alternate between the participants in the game. At the detailed level this may be recognized by possession of a ball (e.g. football, basketball), although the rules may require that the ball alternate between the players (e.g. tennis, volleyball). At a more general level success may be indicated by the game score or the position of the team in a league table. In the absence of a ball, the struggle may be for amount of speaking time (as at conferences) partially checked by rules requiring that each be allowed to present his position. The struggle for power of political parties may be seen in this light.

This suggests that the struggle for power between different claimants could be rendered less naked by elaborating various kinds of games which offered each the possibility of periods of control as an outcome of performance against the other(s).

The well-defined nature of the rules, which may be relatively complex, involving penalties and subtleties of scoring to ensure fairplay, as determined by adequate involvement in the alternation process.

The interaction between the great powers, for example, is studied in the light of game theory by those involved. There is however little attempt to render the rules of the game explicit. On the other hand, such powers do take very seriously the need to perform well in any games that are offered as substitutes (e.g. sport, chess) for the basic game they are playing.

Emergence of game rules. Types of game. Game referees. Role of spectators.