ABSTRACT
This paper examines the context, actors, campaign, and results of the Catalan election of 2010, which took place in a context of economic recession and growing political discontent. I argue that certain circumstances concurred in this particular contest to enhance the influence of factors pertaining to the first-order (i.e. national) arena as compared with the influence of second-order (i.e. region specific) factors. As a result, regional incumbent support was found to he largely driven by evaluations of national incumbent performance, which worked against the tripartite coalition government.
