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eferendum on a hotel tax, azoning meeting on a
proposed resort, an environmental impact
statement on planned development, or opportunities
for national tourism organisations to coordinate
policy with energy, immigration, labour
and commercial policies? Opening up a tunnel for
tourists near a Muslim holy site in Jerusalem in
1996 led to deadly riots because the action was
taken without consultation of those in the area.
Those who feel negatively affected may not be able
to exert persuasive power at the bargaining table,
but the resulting political instability can threaten
the peace and cripple tourism.
Lasswell's definition was later amended to also
ask, `and who already has what?' That addition
asks political questions central to tourism planning
and development. It does not take for
granted that power is evenly distributed, but looks
at who is advantaged or disadvantaged by the status
quo. Political scientists explore who thinks the most
in terms of social class and gender, or gains from
the existing or proposed structuring of tourism.
Policies that consciously put attractions in areas of
high unemployment or see that new roads also
serve the transportation needs of non-tourists
are considering how development can serve to
enhance economically a depressed area. Often,
enclave tourism is adopted with just the
opposite perspective: to keep tourists away from
the poor or the traditional who might force policy
makers to assume the difficult task of integrating
tourism into a plan of overall development.
This writer has argued that the definition of
`Who Gets What When and How' should not only
include `and who already has what', but also `and
who cares?' Political distributions of power may be
of academic interest to political scientists, but it is
the struggles around the status quo that affect the
policy-making process and shape the evolution of
tourism in a particular setting. For example, the
sovereignty movement in Hawaii, aboriginal claims
in Australia and fundamentalist Muslim dictates
toward women in Egypt, the Maldives and
Afghanistan are all instances in which the intensity
of group beliefs is impacting tourism. Risk
analysis not only is used in planning for site
preparation and design but also for assessing the
prospects for political stability, labour peace
and cultural conflicts.
political science 451
Political science as a discipline is organised into
a number of subfields which could, but rarely do,
focus on tourism. Major subfields include comparative
government, international relations, public
administration and political thought.
Comparative politics usually examines nations
along several dimensions including political structures,
culture, leadership and public policy. A few
political scientists have compared national tourism
policies in terms of planning, taxation, import
politics, political development, labour relations
and leisure time policies, and the role and status of
national tourism organisations. The role of government
in the promotion, development and
ownership of tourism components �such as airlines,
hotels and national parks) has also been studied.
More recently, political studies of the problems
associated with tourism, including prostitution,
environmental damage, loss of local control and
crime, have concentrated attention on the many
different ways governments have responded to the
potential and pitfalls associated with tourism
development.
Comparative studies have also called attention
to the fact that developed countries usually have a
major base of domestic tourism. Citizens are
both hosts to guests and tourists themselves at
home and abroad. Less-developed countries have a
typically different experience with tourism. Citizens,
except for a narrow elite, tend to serve as
labourers in the tourism industry, as hosts but not
as guests. Dependency theory as well as other
political economy models, Marxist analysis and
market theories have been used to prove the
political relationships associated with the asymmetry
between developed and developing countrieswith
respect to tourism. Comparative political
studies of corruption and crime have also touched
on tourism-related issues of prostitution and
smuggling.
International relations is a subfield in which
tourism roles can be salient. Tourism is often a
barometer of relations between countries and a
harbinger of increased aid from developed to
developing nations. When relations improve,
tourist exchanges are one of the earliest indications.
Such tourism can be a `confidence-building', lowrisk
step to other relationships. Similarly, one of the
first casualties of worsening relations is a decline of