A Casualty of Unemployment: The Breakdown of Social Concertation in Spain

Abstract

This essay examines the consequences of high unemployment on governance and policy-making in Spain. It contends that a casualty of the unemployment crisis is the end of consensus on macroeconomic policy born with the transition to democracy in 1977 and sustained through 1986. This development is illustrated in an analysis of the breakdown of the process of social concertation defined as the collective pursuit of economic goals among the government, employers and trade unions. The unemployment crisis undercut the government's emphasis on cross-class consensus, raised the costs for labour's participation in public policy and eroded proclivities for co-operation among employers