Toma de decisiones y cultura cívica: el caso de una asociación no política

The article presents the results of an ethnographical research about public life, according to some institutional patterns and associative culture in a sport club in Mexico City. Its aim is to establish whether this kind of non-political association promotes or not -according to some theories- civic patterns, skills, and participation of its members when addressing common problems. It is based on gathered information through ethnographic work and open interviews to different actors. The results show that this association has limited cultural and institutional resources to achieve those ends due mainly to clientelistic and negative administration practices, which rule the association.