The Austrian 2017 national elections are a good example of how the topic of more direct democracy was picked up by nearly all political parties – though to differing degrees – with the Eurosceptic Freedom Party (FPÖ) being the strongest supporter. In its 2017 national election programme, the FPÖ criticised the current democratic system as unfair, arguing that representative democracy was being abused to implement laws against the majoritarian will of the people; that decisions were being taken over peoples’ heads; that election promises were being broken and that the concerns of politically active citizens expressed in the form of parliamentary petitions or citizens’ initiatives were consequently being ignored. To re-establish trust in politics, the FPÖ called for the creation of a constitutional basis for legislation by the people (‘Volksgesetzgebung’) following the Swiss example; compulsory referendums if successful popular initiatives (= 256,000 signatures of support, or 4% of eligible voters) are not implemented by Parliament; veto referendums against laws adopted by Parliament; the right of parliamentary minorities to initiate people’s consultations and the greater involvement of young people in direct democratic procedures.41
The conservative People’s Party (ÖVP) also called for more direct democracy in its election programme, criticising the Austrian political system for being dominated by political parties and for neglecting direct democratic participation.42 The ÖVP therefore
proposed that every year one or two days be designated for citizens to vote on their concerns in the form of referendums or
41 Freiheitliche Partei Österreichs (2017), „Österreicher verdienen Fairness. Freiheitliches Wahlprogramm zur Nationalratswahl” [“Austrians deserve fairness. Programme of the Freedom Party for the national elections], p. 10 (www.fpoe.at/fileadmin/user_upload/Wahlprogramm_8_9_low.pdf). 42 Österreichische Volkspartei (2017), “Das Programm der Liste Sebastian Kurz – die neue Volkspartei – zur Nationalratswahl 2017. 3/3” [Programme of the Liste Sebastian Kurz – the new People’s Party for the National elections 2017. 3/3], pp. 37-39 (https://mitmachen.sebastian- kurz.at/page/-/Teil%203_Ordnung%20%26%20Sicherheit.pdf).
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consultations of the people. If a public initiative gains the support of 10% of the population but has not attained parliamentary approval, citizens should decide on it in a nationwide referendum. This would apply only if the initiative is not in conflict with fundamental and human rights or international law, however.
In the Social Democrats (SPÖ) election programme, direct democracy is not mentioned once. Instead, the SPÖ calls for the faster formation of a government after an election, for reducing the number of ministries and for strengthening parliamentary democracy by flexible majorities in parliament to pass laws.43 The
Social Democrats already had their own experiences with a recent attempt at direct democracy: in 2016 they organised a survey amongst their members (non-members could also participate) to settle the party’s official line on the subject of CETA. However, this campaign only saw a turnout of approximately 7% of SPÖ-members (=14,387 votes), which rejected CETA by a majority of 88%. While the SPÖ interpreted this result44 as a strong mandate to advocate
changes in the treaty agreement, others concluded45 that there was
no massive opposition of SPÖ-members. Others still raised the question of the representativeness of a vote in which only a minority took part.
For the Green Party, which in the end failed to get into Parliament, direct democratic instruments can be an opportunity –
43 Sozialdemokratische Partei Österreichs (2017), “Plan A für Österreich” [Plan A for Austria], p. 213 (https://christian-kern.at/wp- content/uploads/2017/09/Plan-A_SPOe-Wahlprogramm-2017.pdf). 44 SPÖ-Bundesorganisation (2016), “Niedermühlbichler: Erste bundesweite Mitgliederbefragung zu CETA und TTIP ein voller Erfolg“ [Niedermühlbichler: First nationwide member survey on CETA and TTIP complete success], 20 September (www.ots.at/presseaussendung/ OTS_20160920_OTS0002/niedermuehlbichler-erste-bundesweite-spoe- mitgliederbefragung-zu-ceta-und-ttip-voller-erfolg).
45 Vertretung der EU-Kommission in Österreich (2016), „CETA: Deutliche Botschaft der SPÖ-Mitglieder zu Kanada-Abkommen“ [CETA: Clear message of SPÖ-members on Canada-agreement], 20 September (www.ots.at/presseaussendung/OTS_20160920_OTS0170/ceta-deutliche- botschaft-der-spoe-mitglieder-zu-kanada-abkommen).
134DIRECT DEMOCRACY IN AUSTRIA: JUST A TOOL FOR THE OPPOSITION?
if they are used “wisely”.46 The Green election programme states
that they can contribute significantly to people’s involvement and to policymaking but can also be misused for populist purposes. If a public initiative (not being in conflict with fundamental and human rights or international law) is well supported but not taken into account by Parliament, citizens should decide on it in a referendum or at least have a say in a non-binding consultation of the people. Additionally, the Green manifesto also promotes EU-wide referendums on major integration steps.
Finally, the view of liberal NEOS Party, as expressed in its manifesto, is that a democracy close to citizens and citizens’ participation entails both opportunities and responsibilities, but they do not go into detail on these points.47
Beside these attempts to regain trust and demonstrate a willingness to strengthen the instruments of direct democracy, the 2017 Austrian election campaign was also characterised by the efforts of political parties to (re)brand
themselves as movements, unlike traditional party politics which have been perceived as remote and removed from people. This was the case with the ÖVP that presented itself as the ‘New People’s Party’; it largely refrained from using its name on election billboards but concentrated instead on their lead candidate, Sebastian Kurz. Another example of a highly personalised list is the Liste Pilz that was founded – due to a split in the Green party – by the end of July 2017. The Liste Pilz has only
marginal organisational structures and no official party programme
46 Die Grünen (2017), „Wahlprogramm der Grünen – Nationalratswahl 2017“ [Green Party Election Programme - national elections 2017], pp. 51- 52 (https://www.gruene.at/partei/programm/wahlprogramme). 47 NEOS (2017), „Das Zukunftsmanifest für ein neues Österreich“ [The manifesto for the future of a new Austria] (https://cdn2.hubspot.net/ hubfs/2359661/NEOS_Manifest_RGBweb.pdf?t=1527245784173).
Beside these attempts to regain trust and demonstrate a willingness to strengthen direct democracy, the 2017 Austrian election campaign also saw efforts by political parties to (re)brand themselves as movements, unlike traditional party politics which have been perceived as removed from people.
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but managed to pass the threshold to get into Parliament. It chooses to strengthen representative democracy by suggesting to voters that they cast ‘minus votes’48 to show their discontent and vote political
parties out of parliament.