A great deal of discussion has emphasised the fact that there are differences in political behaviour (voting rates and so on) and attitudes (for example, support for left- and right-wing politics) between groups of young people in different social positions (Clark, 1985; Banks and Ullah, 1987; De Witte, 1992; Ashford, 1994; Riepel and Wintersberg, 1999). Research describing country-specific differences in political behaviour is also available. These differences might be interpreted as political styles within groups of countries (Franklin et al, 1992; France, 1996; Wallace and Kovatcheva, 1998). It might be the case that political behaviour reflects different political cultures, within as well as between countries. The reasons for these differences and similarities, however, are not very often the focus of research that deals with youth. Research on youth in general, as well as research on different subcultures, tends to describe segments of ‘youth society’, such as different segments of unemployed young people compared to the employed, skinheads versus punks, young people living with parents and those who do not (Dancis, 1978; Elterman, 1988; Decker, 1993; Lusane, 1993; Eyerman and Jamison, 1995; Dalhouse and Frideres, 1996). In research on youth unemployment it is common to stress that periods of unemployment are important in explaining different types of political behaviour among young people in general, as well as among those who are unemployed. This is to say that youth unemployment in itself could be the basis of a different and specific political subculture, rather than living within a different subculture. Moreover, unemployed people may have a situation in common that goes beyond the diverse aspects of the lives of young people in different countries. A great deal of research reflects this empirically, but much empirical research reflects uncertainty in this respect (Furlong and Cartmel, 1997; Wallace and Kovatcheva, 1998; Carle, 2000; Hammer, 2002). This kind of issue also enters the debate on postmodernisation and the supposed blurred relations between different social positions and social and cultural activity (Crook et al, 1992; Griffin, 1992; Jones and Wallace, 1992; Eyerman and Jamison, 1995; Marshall and Bottomore, 1997).

It may be that political behaviour and attitudes still embody much deeper social and cultural experiences going beyond what could be influenced even by long-term unemployment.