Politics of Austria

Politics of Austria takes place in a framework of a federal parliamentary representative democratic republic, whereby the Chancellor is the head of government, and of a pluriform multi-party system. Executive power is exercised by the government. Federal legislative power is vested in both the government and the two chambers of parliament, the National Council and the Federal Council. Since 1949 the party system is dominated by the conservative Austrian People's Party and the social democratic Social Democratic Party of Austria. The Judiciary is independent of the executive and the legislature. The ethnically and culturally homogenous nation state of Austria is the small but prosperous remnant of Austria-Hungary, a vast multinational empire that ceased to exist in 1918.

Having been an authoritarian monarchy with a thin veil of constitutionality until then, Austria embarked on a first attempt at republican governance in the years following the collapse of the empire. This attempt quickly failed; Austria's First Republic (1918-1938) gradually degenerated into an clerical fascist dictatorship between 1933 and 1934 and eventually embraced National Socialist totalitarianism in 1938. Following the defeat of National Socialism in 1945, however, Austria began to incrementally evolve into a bona fide liberal democracy. As of the beginning of the twenty-first century, Austria's Second Republic presents itself as a stable federal republic with a written constitution, governed according to the principles of representative democracy and the rule of law. The constitutional framework of the Politics of Austria and the marrow of the constitution's practical implementation are widely agreed to be robust and adequately conducive to peaceful change.

Constitution

Even though the Republic of Austria is just slightly larger than Maine, Scotland, or Hokkaidō, and even though it is home to an ethnically and culturally homogenous population of barely more than eight million people, Austria's constitution characterizes the republic as a federation consisting of nine autonomous federal states. Both the federation and all its states have written constitutions defining them to be republican entities governed according to the principles of representative democracy. Aside from the fact that the states of Austria lack an independent judiciary on the one hand and that their autonomy is largely notional on the other hand, Austria's government structure is surprisingly similar to that of incomparably larger federal republics such as Germany or the United States.

Executive branch

Austria's head of state is the Bundespräsident (Federal President), elected by popular vote for a term of six years and limited to two terms of office.

The federal cabinet consists of the Bundeskanzler (Federal Chancellor, prime minister) appointed by the president and a number of ministers appointed by the president on the recommendation of the chancellor. The federal cabinet is answerable to the National Council and can be forced to resign by a motion of no confidence. Traditionally the president assigns the chairperson of the party with the largest number of seats in the National Council with building the cabinet. However the National Council is elected by proportional representation and different coalitions of parties represented in it are possible. Therefore the president cannot select a cabinet at his/her discretion but has to respect the will of the majority of deputies to the National Council.

The office of the Federal President is largely ceremonial, although the constitution allows the president to dismiss the cabinet or to dissolve the National Council and call new elections. The Bundesversammlung (Federal Assembly), which is formed by National Council and Federal Council in joint session, can call a referendum on the impeachment of the president if it concludes that the president violated the constitution.

Legislative branch

The Parliament of Austria (Parlament) has two chambers. The National Council (Nationalrat) has 183 members, elected for a four year term by proportional representation. It is the predominant of the legislature's two chambers . The politically less significant Federal Council (Bundesrat) has 64 members, elected from five to six year by the provincial parliaments. The power of the Federal Council is very limited because its veto has only deferring effect.

Political Conditions

Since World War II, Austria has enjoyed political stability. A Socialist elder statesman, Dr. Karl Renner, organized an Austrian administration in the aftermath of the war, and general elections were held in November 1945. In that election, the conservative People's Party (ÖVP) obtained 50% of the vote (85 seats) in the National Council, the Socialists won 45% (76 seats), and the communists won 5% (4 seats). The ensuing three-party government ruled until 1947, when the communists left the government and the ÖVP led a governing coalition with the socialists (now called the Social Democratic Party or SPÖ) that governed until 1966. In that year, the ÖVP won an absolute majority and ruled alone for the next four years. The tables turned in 1970, when the SPÖ became the strongest party for the first time, surprisingly winning an absolute majority under its charismatic leader Bruno Kreisky in 1971. Between 1971 and 1999, the SPÖ ruled the country either alone or in conjunction with the ÖVP, except from 1983-86, when it governed in coalition with the Freedom Party (this coalition broke when the right-wing politician Jörg Haider became the leader of the Freedom Party). After the election of 1999, despite emerging only in third place after the elections, the ÖVP formed a coalition with the right wing-populist Freedom Party (FPÖ) in early 2000. The SPÖ, which was the strongest party in the 1999 elections, and the Greens now form the opposition. As a result of the inclusion of the FPÖ on the government, the EU imposed symbolic sanctions on Austria, which were revoked six months later. The U.S. and Israel, as well as various other countries, also reduced contacts with the Austrian Government. The ÖVP was re-elected, this time with a plurality of votes, in the 2002 elections, and formed another coalition government with the FPÖ, this time largely ignored by other countries.

The Social Democratic Party (SPÖ) traditionally draws its constituency from blue- and white-collar workers. Accordingly, much of its strength lies in urban and industrialized areas. In the 2002 national elections, it garnered 36.5% of the vote. The SPÖ in the past advocated heavy state involvement in Austria's key industries, the extension of social security benefits, and a full-employment policy. Beginning in the mid-1980s, it shifted its focus to free market-oriented economic policies, balancing the federal budget, and European Union (EU) membership.

The People's Party (ÖVP) advocates conservative financial policies and privatization of much of Austria's nationalized industry and finds support from farmers, large and small business owners, and lay Catholic groups, but also from voters without party affiliation, with strongholds in the rural regions of Austria. In 2002, it received 42.3% of the vote.

The rightist Freedom Party (FPÖ) attracts protest votes and those who desire no association with the other major parties. The party's mixture of populism and anti-establishment themes propagated by its aggressive leader Jörg Haider steadily gained support from the beginning of Jörg Haider's leadership in 1986 until it attracted about 27% of the vote in the 1999 elections. However, their voters were soon disillusioned by the party's style of government, and in the 2002 elections they were reduced to just 10%. Recent regional and communal elections led to further losses.

The Greens (GRÜNE), a left-of-center party focusing on social and environmental issues, received 9.4% of the vote in 2002. They are particularly strong in the city areas, for example in Vienna, where they received 22% of the votes in the 2004 EU-elections. In Neubau they received 41% of the votes, more than SPÖ and ÖVP combined. The Greens attract left-wing intellectuals and voters from 18-30.

The Liberal Forum (LIF), founded on liberal ideals, split from the Freedom Movement in February 1993. It received 3.65% of the vote in the 1999 election and thus failed to re-enter the national legislature. After being reduced to under 1% in the 2002 election, they disappeared almost completely from public view.