Untitled

450 political science
occur in the context of a specific place in which
political and economic relations are identified in
terms of class relations.
The idea of class is integral to Marxist or neo-
Marxist approaches to political economy. Marxist
analysis has often been misunderstood or misrepresented
in mainstream economics which promotes
itself as value-free science. The Marxian
notion of the dialectic or interconnectedness
between culture and economy is essential to the
critical study of heritage, image, place and
power in tourism, although this does not occur
within mainstream studies in this field.
Issues of identity, representation and exclusion
are significant contemporary foci for tourismrelated
political economy, recognising that it is the
ruling class which controls the form and content of
historical recreations and tourism landscapes,
legitimising itself by projecting its own contemporary
sociocultural values upon the past. A political
economy approach is also applicable to the
production of tourism knowledge. For example,
this encyclopedia can be interpreted as an exercise
in academic power and legitimisation which
excludes or ignores certain ideas, values and
interests from its text, thereby selectively representing
the phenomenon of tourism.
See also: centre±periphery; political science
Further reading
Britton, S.G. �1982) `The political economy of
tourism in the Third World', Annals of Tourism
Research 9: 331±58. �Studies political economy in
developing countries.)
ÐÐ �1991) `Tourism, capital and place: towards a
critical geography of tourism', Environment and
Planning D:Society and Space, 9: 451±78. �Places
tourism analysis in the context of contemporary
capitalism.)
political science
C. MICHAEL HALL, NEW ZEALAND
Scholars and political scientists have been slow to
recognise that the enduring questions of politics are
central to tourism issues. Political science is the
study of politics in all its myriad forms. Many issues
can be highlighted by first, looking closely at a wellknown
definition of politics, and second, looking at
the way political science as a discipline is organised
to teach and research these topics.
There are many definitions of politics, but one
that is widely used and adapted forms the title of
Harold Lasswell's Politics:Who Gets What When and
How �1936). This definition pithily focuses attention
on who has the power to control the distribution
of resources and under what conditions or in
what pattern it is dispersed. It concentrates
attention on such issues as who those most affected
positively or negatively by tourism policy are;
whether elites, interest groups and the general
public are involved in making decisions; and
whether there are monitoring mechanisms to
discern the impact of tourism on individuals
and groups. For example, special events like the
Olympics and World Fairs may have some obvious
benefits for those who participate and attend and
for the businesses that they patronise, and in terms
of prestige for the hosting nation and city. But
there are also those who bear the costs of tourism.
There are evictions, increased taxes, security
measures, traffic, crowding and crime. All create
winners and losers. Within the same political unit,
there may also be a great variation in who benefits
along lines of class, race and gender.
What is to be distributed is often the subject of
political controversy. It may be new attractions,
beach development, a hotel training institute,
or a noise abatement ordinance regulating airline
takeoffs over urban areas. It can even mean
vacation policies or a nationally declared holiday.
When and how ask the political questions about the
circumstances, pace, financing and scope of tourism
decisions. Governments, investors and other
groups recognise that the timing, sequencing and
care with which decisions are reached have much
to do with the level of support they enjoy. Who
participates in the making of key decisions about
tourism policy: the World Tourism Organization
or some other international body, the nation,
the state or province, or local authorities? Or are
key decisions primarily the result of individual,
corporate or even transnational private interests?
What procedures and processes exist for legitimating
these decisions? For example, is there a