The Eurozone's First Post-bailout Election: The 2010 Local Government Contest in Greece

Abstract

An apparent case of Greek exceptionalism, the 2010 local government election, held six months after the European Union (EU)/International Monetary Fund (IMF) bailout in the context of an explicit prime-ministerial pledge to call general elections if the outcome was deemed unsatisfactory, did not lead to the downfall of the incumbent government. Instead the socialists remained first party. Investigating this puzzle, the article examines how party strategies were shaped by the dynamics of a two-round contest fought at the sub-national level and shows that the split around the EU/IMF Memorandum of Understanding did not emerge as a new political cleavage. Assessing the results, it concludes that the main electoral verdict did not concern the future of the bailout but the legitimacy of the political system, which was in a state of deepening crisis. © 2012 Copyright Taylor and Francis Group, LLC.