Theoretical Perspectives on the Political Behaviour of Temporary Workers

Abstract

In this chapter, I will discuss whether and in which way temporary employment contracts should be expected to influence political preferences and behaviour. It consists of two parts. I begin with a discussion of political economy theories of labour market risks. I identify two main approaches, the risk literature and the insider-outsider literature, both of which are directly applicable to temporary workers. Although both literatures depart from the economically instrumental motives following from exposure to employment risk, they fundamentally disagree on the implications for patterns of party support. In the second part of the chapter, I develop a psychological argument based on the concept of relative deprivation. It shifts the perspective from the motive of choosing utility-maximizing policies to how job-related frustration leads temporary workers to punish the incumbent government.