Maria J. Hierro’s two-part teaching case, Catalonia 2017: Secession and Constitutional Crisis, is now available through the Yale School of Management Case Studies.
Designed as a decision-making exercise, the cases place students in the position of political leaders confronting critical choices during the 2017 Catalan secession crisis. In Part A, students take the perspective of Catalan President Carles Puigdemont as he weighs whether to declare independence or call early regional elections. Part B shifts the perspective to Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy as he considers how the Spanish government should respond to the secession crisis. The cases invite students to assess competing courses of action under conditions of political and institutional uncertainty and consider their potential consequences.
The cases were developed with the support of a one-course release from Yale’s Teaching Resource Advisory Committee and were first tested in Spring 2024 in Hierro’s seminar Self-Determination, Secession, and Accommodation, taught with Deepika Padmanabhan through Poorvu Center’s Associates in Teaching program.
Case Study A: Catalonia 2017 (A): A Secession and Constitutional Crisis
Case Study B: Catalonia 2017 (B)
The cases are available at no cost to Yale users with a valid NetID. Teaching notes are available to instructors upon request.