Explaining political responses to inequality : the role of grievances and resources

Abstract

Economic inequality is a defining contemporary issue with far-reaching but often unclear political implications. This dissertation relies on political science and sociological approaches to argue that context moderates the relationship between economic and political inequality, explaining the often contradictory empirical evidence on the inequality-redistribution nexus. Contextual conditions shaping resources, such as preexisting organizations, dense networks, or contending narratives, prevent or facilitate the translation of grievances into political change. The three articles summarized below emphasize and detail these factors. Chapter Two examines deprivation in the provision of banking services in Spain, investigating the distinct political ramifications of private services –beyond public ones. It argues that, while public opinion does not expect the government to provide banking services in developed economies, the deterioration in the provision of these services can still lead to political change through its socio-economic implications. Moreover, such deterioration can prompt a reassessment of the prevailing privatization in the sector, leading to a reevaluation of the government’s role in providing or monitoring such services. Chapter Three investigates the effect of local economic events (e.g., layoffs) on job market risk perceptions and political attitudes among local residents, during the early Covid period in the UK. These layoffs created economic grievances, heightening people’s perceptions of job market risk, especially for local within-industry layoffs. However, the economic grievances did not translate into significant political changes due to the transnational and temporary nature of the Covid crisis and its implications for blame attribution. Chapter Four understands protest mobilizations as resources mediating the relationship between economic and political inequality. It argues that mobilizations can shift narratives around inequality and shape aggregate demands for redistribution via changes in perceptions of inequality and the role of government. These observations highlight the importance of social narratives and bandwagon effects in contesting economic inequality.