Politics

The 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.

Background

The ethnically and culturally homogeneous 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 a 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 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

Austria's constitution characterises 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.

This form of government could be described as a mixture between parliamentary and presidential democracy. Since the start of the Second Republic (1945), no president ever has used one of the above mentioned rights, and they generally refrained from intervening in day-to-day political conflicts.

The federal government is subject to significant, albeit decreasing, influence by state-approved, compulsory-membership chambers of labour, commerce and agriculture, as well as by trade unions and lobbyist groups. During periods of coalition government by the two large political camps, conservatives and social democrats, this has led to a system called Proporz, where all jobs in the public administration were evenly distributed to supporters of the two parties. At that time the so-called Sozialpartnerschaft (socio-economic partnership) between the chambers of commerce and labour decided on large parts of Austria's economic policy. These decisions were made in back-room meetings and then forwarded to the parliament where they were enacted without discussion.

Following Austria's admittance into the European Union in 1995, the federal government has also begun ceding core responsibilities to supranational institutions.

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. A "Four Percent Hurdle" prevents a large splintering of the political landscape in the Nationalrat by awarding seats only to political parties that have obtained at least a four percent threshold of the general vote, or alternatively, have won a direct seat, or Direktmandat, in one of the 43 regional election districts.

The Nationalrat is the dominant chamber in the formation of legislation in Austria. The politically less significant Federal Council (Bundesrat) has 64 members, elected from five to six years by the provincial parliaments. The power of the Federal Council is very limited because its veto has only deferring effect. A convention, called the Österreich-Konvent was convened in June 30, 2003 to decide upon suggestions to reform the constitution, but has failed to produce a proposal that would receive the two thirds of votes in the Nationalrat necessary for constitutional amendments and/or reform. However, some important parts of the final report were generally agreed upon and are still expected to be implemented.

Recent Political Developments

In February 2000, the conservative People's Party formed a coalition with the far-right Freedom Party, headed by Jörg Haider. The European Union condemned Austria's new coalition, froze diplomatic contacts, which were commonly referred to "sanctions", although they were more or less diplomatic unfriendliness. Given the controversy, Haider chose not to join the government, but he continued to wield influence from the sidelines.

In September 2002, the coalition between the People's Party and the Freedom Party dissolved after a shake-up in the Freedom Party. In November 2002, the People's Party made large gains in general elections. After failed coalition talks with other parties, the People's Party again formed a government with the Freedom Party in February 2003.

After general elections held in October 2006, the Social Democrats emerged as the largest party, whereas the People's Party lost about 8% in votes. Political realities prohibited any of the two major parties to form a coalition with smaller parties. In January 2007, the People's Party and Social Democrats formed a Grand Coalition with the social democrat Alfred Gusenbauer as Chancellor.

Foreign Policy

The 1955 Austrian State Treaty ended the occupation of Austria following World War II and recognised Austria as an independent and sovereign state. In October 1955, the Federal Assembly passed a constitutional law in which "Austria declares of her own free will her perpetual neutrality". The second section of this law stated that "in all future times Austria will not join any military alliances and will not permit the establishment of any foreign military bases on her territory". Since then, Austria shaped its foreign policy on the basis of neutrality.

Austria began to reassess its definition of neutrality following the fall of the Soviet Union, granting overflight rights for the UN-sanctioned action against Iraq in 1991, and, since 1995, contemplating participation in the EU's evolving security structure. Also in 1995, it joined the Partnership for Peace, and subsequently participated in peacekeeping missions in Bosnia.

Austria attaches great importance to participation in the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development and other international economic organisations, and it has played an active role in the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE).

Military

The main branches of the Austrian Army (Bundesheer) are:

• Land Forces (Kommando Landstreitkräfte; KdoLaSK)
• Air Forces (Kommando Luftstreitkräfte; KdoLuSK)
• Mission Support (Kommando Einsatzunterstützung; KdoEU)
• International Missions (Kommando Internationale Einsätze; KdoIE)
• Command Support (Kommando Führungsunterstützung; KdoFüU)
• Special Forces (Kommando Spezialeinsatzkräfte; KdoSEK)

In 2004 Austria expensed about 0.9% of its GDP for defence. The Army currently has about 35,000 soldiers, of which about half are conscripts. In peacetime, the Bundesheer is commanded by the Minister of Defence; in times of war the Austrian President becomes head of the Army.

With the end of the Cold War, the Austrian military has increasingly assisted the border police in controlling the influx of illegal immigrants through Austrian borders. Austria has been engaged in UN peacekeeping missions despite its neutrality. Currently larger contingents of Austrian forces are deployed in Kosovo and the Golan heights.