Political Ideology and Central Government Leisure Policy

Abstract

In this chapter the account of the historical development of leisure policy of chapter 1 is linked with the discussion of contemporary policy developments at national and local levels in Chapters 3 and 4 respectively, through a discussion of the nature of political ideologies and their implications for leisure policy. There are two principal reasons for approaching the task in this manner. The first is that, while leisure policy development and innovation in social policy may have been initiated predominantly by the Labour governments of the post-war years, such measures were not rescinded by the Conservative governments which succeeded them. The politics of the post-war period up to the early 1970s have been described as the politics of consensus, or pragmatism; it was a period in which the ideological differences between the parties were marginalised. The emergence of ideological splits within and between the two major parties are a feature of the period since the mid-1970s. Although the relationship between ideology and policy goals is not straightforward, nevertheless there is a real need to clarify the implications of certain ideological positions for leisure policy. The second reason for prefacing an analysis of contemporary leisure policy in Britain with a discussion of political ideologies and their policy implications is to underline the notion that leisure cannot be insulated from politics.