HOW DO LABOUR MARKET EXPERIENCES AFFECT POLITICAL ATTITUDES? ANALYSING THE POLITICAL EFFECTS OF LABOUR MARKET DUALISATION IN SPAIN

University. This paper forms part of ongoing research for his doctoral dissertation. This paper analyses the effects of labour market dualisation in Spain on political attitudes. It explores the extent to which the very high levels of labour market precarity attached to fixed-term contracts in Spain might have led to 1) political radicalisation; 2) political apathy; 4) electoral abstention and 3) punishment voting against the incumbent party. The research is based on a survey undertaken in 1995 by the Spanish Centre for Sociological Research on a representative sample of 4,000 adults. Our analysis shows that labour market experiences in the flexible segment of the Spanish labour market might have had significant effects on political attitudes and electoral behaviour. These effects are largely mediated by ideological maps. Further research on the micro mechanisms that link labour market experiences to attitudinal outcomes casts doubts as to the importance of economic deprivation in the causal process. Our analysis suggests that it is rather the experience of labour insecurity per se that triggers attitudinal effects. It is hoped that this paper will generate discussion on the formation of new political cleavages in Spain and that it will contribute to further our understanding of the mechanisms that link labour market experiences to attitudinal outcomes