The first ÖVP–FPÖ coalition lasted until the fall of 2002, and its policies represented a sharp break with Austria’s post-World War II economic and politi- cal order. First, the governing parties trampled upon Austria’s traditional consensus-building policy pro- cess by passing legislation through simple majority rule. Second, the government overruled the wishes of Austria’s influential corporatist economic bodies and also removed from public posts individuals who sympathized or were affiliated with the SPÖ. Third, it also introduced policies that broke with Austria’s social-democratic tradition by proposing tax cuts, the privatization of state assets, and tougher laws against illegal immigrants.
By the third year, though, the coalition began to unravel largely because of factional conflict within the FPÖ. Haider and the populist faction of the party com- mitted the FPÖ to introducing large tax cuts before the next general election. In the summer of 2002, however, Austria suffered severe flooding, and chancellor Schüssel announced that the tax cuts would be postponed. This provoked a furious response from the FPÖ’s populist faction, which opposed the actions of the FPÖ govern- ment ministers that had endorsed the postponement. The FPÖ populist faction, sensing that the responsibili- ties of government had restricted the party’s ability to deliver on many of its pre-election promises, decided to withdraw its support from the government, thus forcing the collapse of the coalition.
As a result, a general election was called on November 24, 2002, in which the FPÖ dropped from 29 percent to 10 percent of the vote, while the ÖVP polled very strongly. The result forced a less influen- tial FPÖ to rejoin the ÖVP in a new coalition govern- ment led by Schüssel. The FPÖ has toned down many of its more extreme views, while the ÖVP remains Austria’s more powerful party. The ÖVP, by forming
a new alliance with the FPÖ, has been able to exert greater control of the state including nominating its supporters to key public posts. The ÖVP has also been able to appeal successfully to right-wing voters and Haider supporters.
The party system was shocked in 2005 when Haider and several fellow senior leaders of the FPÖ defected to start a new party, the Alliance for the Future of Austria (Bündnis Zukunft Österreich, BZÖ). The split called into question the future of the FPÖ and threatened to undermine the existing government coalition.
The System of
Government
The Republic of Austria is a federal republic composed of nine provinces (Bundesländer), each with its own government and assembly. Austria has a parliamentary system of government. Although the Austrian presi- dent is elected directly by popular suffrage, he is merely a figurehead with limited power and responsibilities. In the Austrian system the chancellor, who is chosen by the political party with the strongest support in the legislature or by the largest party within the coalition able to form a working majority, is the true head of government.
In the Austrian system the established division of powers between the federal government and the individual provincial governments is rather compli- cated; however, most important political matters are delegated to the federal government. Legislative and executive powers regarding major policy areas are the responsibility of the federal government. These include issues relating to foreign policy, the military, immigra- tion, the constitution, judiciary, criminal and civil law, and law enforcement. For other policy issues such as housing, education, social welfare, land reform, popu- lation policy, and matters concerning electrical power, the federal government formulates the policies, but it is the responsibility of the provinces to execute the laws. The individual provinces possess legislative and executive jurisdiction over zoning and regional plan- ning, hunting, land transfers, conservation, and local law enforcement issues.
The individual rights of Austrian citizens are detailed in the Basic Law of 1867, the 1929 Consti- tutional Act, and the 1950 European Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms. These fundamental rights include equality before the law, individual privacy in the home and in
communication, and freedom of association, move- ment, expression, conscience, religion, and property.
EXECUTIVE
Austria has a popularly elected federal president and a chancellor chosen from the ruling party in the legisla- ture. Austria’s president (Bundespräsident) acts as the nation’s head of state, a largely ceremonial role; this includes appointing the federal chancellor from the party with the largest representation in the lower leg- islative house, representing the nation in international affairs, and opening or discontinuing parliamentary sessions. The official responsibilities of the president, such as making governmental appointments, verify- ing laws passed by the legislature, signing treaties, and presiding over the army as commander in chief, are performed in conjunction with the chancellor or the appropriate minister. When the president is unable to fulfill the responsibilities of the office, the chancel- lor is given the authority to perform the duties until the president returns to office or a new president is elected.
The president is directly elected by popular vote for no more than two successive six-year terms, usually on the second ballot. To win the presidency on the first ballot, a candidate must attain a majority of the valid votes. If no candidate receives a majority on the first ballot, a second ballot is used to choose a winner from the two candidates that receive the most votes on the first ballot.
In Austria the actual head of government is the federal chancellor. The chancellor is appointed by the president from the party or the coalition of parties that wins the most seats in the election that fills the lower legislative house, the Nationalrat. Governmental affairs that are not entrusted to the president are con- ducted by the chancellor. Although the person hold- ing this office is not authorized to give orders to the members of the cabinet, the chancellor is considered the leader of the cabinet. In this capacity, the chan- cellor can control the composition of the cabinet by proposing cabinet appointments or dismissals to the president; this ability provides a certain measure of influence in cabinet decision making. The chancellor also has control over civil servants’ promotions and the government’s law branch responsible for the constitu- tionality decisions for legislative proposals.
The most important government decisions are made by the cabinet. Cabinet responsibilities in deci- sion making include approving reports that are to be sent to the legislature, confirming government bills, Austria 71
drafting proposals over presidential actions, bringing matters before the constitutional courts, passing emer- gency powers decrees, calling legislative elections, and providing supervision over legislative conduct.
In April 2004 Heinz Fischer of the SPÖ defeated Benita Ferrero-Waldner of the ÖVP in the presidential election by winning 52.4 percent of the vote against 47.6 percent. Fischer has been in politics for over 30 years, the last 14 as speaker or deputy speaker of par- liament. During the campaign he promised to defend Austria’s traditional neutrality and called for a return to corporatism and consociational politics. He also challenged the ÖVP–FPÖ coalition to roll back free market–oriented economic policies. Wolfgang Schüs- sel of the ÖVP holds the office of federal chancellor. He was sworn in on February 28, 2003. Schüssel heads a center-right coalition government between the ÖVP and the FPÖ.
LEGISLATURE
Although Austria is a federal system and has a popu- larly elected president, it is fundamentally a parlia- mentary democracy, with the basic power residing in the legislative branch. Austria has a bicameral system; its legislature, the Federal Assembly (Bundesversamm- lung) is composed of a lower and an upper chamber. The main legislative body is the lower chamber, known as the Nationalrat. Members of the Nationalrat must be at least 21 years of age. This chamber consists of 183 deputies who are directly elected for four-year terms (subject to dissolution) by proportional representation in a three-tier system; allocation of chamber seats is based on the 43 regional and nine provincial constitu- encies and the one federal constituency. Parties must acquire 4 percent of the national vote to be represented in the Nationalrat. Nationalrat seats are apportioned to the parties through a two-stage process. The first stage takes place at the provincial level; the second stage allocates any remaining seats to the two national constituencies.
Responsibilities of the Nationalrat include poli- cymaking, amending the constitution, and overseeing the Office of the People’s Attorney. To create policy, the first step involves the initial reading and explana- tion of a bill that is submitted by the federal govern- ment (Bundesregierung) or introduced by a member of the Nationalrat; the bill is then accepted and sent to a legislative committee or rejected. If the bill is accepted, the committee prepares a final version of the bill for a second reading; during this reading the main debate of the proposed bill occurs. Changes to the bill can
be made with the agreement of at least eight of the committee members. If action is not taken to suspend debate of the bill or return the bill to committee, the bill undergoes a final vote, known as the third read- ing. If the bill is passed, it goes to the upper legislative house where it can be rejected or approved or action dealing with the bill can be suspended for up to eight weeks. In the event that the bill is approved or action is not taken during the eight-week period, the president verifies the constitutionality of the bill and the chan- cellor proclaims the bill as law.
When amending the constitution, a two-thirds majority in the Nationalrat with at least half of the members in attendance is required to pass constitutional amendments or constitutional laws. Furthermore, to perform a partial or total revision of the constitution, a referendum must be held. To render a partial revision, the referendum is conducted when one-third of the members of either chamber request it.
In 1977 the Austrian government established the Office of the People’s Attorney, patterned after the Scandinavian office of ombudsman. This position is accountable to the lower chamber exclusively. The responsibility of the office is to investigate citizen complaints of unjust treatment by any sector of the administration.
The upper chamber, the Bundesrat, has very lim- ited power. This chamber is composed of 64 mem- bers who are indirectly elected by the nine provincial (Länder) legislatures; consequently, the upper chamber represents the interests of the Länder. Members of the Bundesrat are elected for four- to six-year terms cor- responding to the term of their respective provincial assemblies (Landtag). The seats are allotted in propor- tion to the population of the province.
The powers of the Bundesrat are confined to the review and delay of legislation that has been passed by the Nationalrat. If the upper chamber rejects a legisla- tive bill, its decision may be overturned by a “persisting vote” of the lower chamber, whereby a majority vote in the Nationalrat with at least half the members present is required to overturn the decision. A simple majority vote in both chambers is all that is necessary to enact ordinary legislation.
JUDICIARY
Three types of courts are provided for in the Austrian constitution: judicial, administrative, and constitutional. Judicial courts are established by law. Judgeships for the judicial courts are usually made by presidential appoint- ment from a list of recommended candidates; candidate
recommendations are submitted to the government from tribunals. Authority to make such appointments can also be delegated to a government minister. The Supreme Judicial Court (Oberster Gerichtshof) is the principal authoritative court in the system.
The Administrative Court (Verwaltungsgerichtshof) was established by Chapter 6 of the federal constitution act of 1929. Complaints about procedural or substantive problems in administrative rulings are dealt with by this high court. Up to 1995 administrative court judges were selected from candidate lists that were suggested by the government. In 1995 the selection process was changed to allow open advertisement and acceptance of applica- tions from interested individuals.
The Constitutional Court (Verfassungsgericht- shof) was also established by the constitution act of 1929. This court determines the constitutionality of government statutes, as well as officiating over cases that involve monetary claims against the government, cases involving conflicts between the administra- tion and the courts, conflicts between the different courts, and conflicts between the different levels of government. The constitutional courts can also arbi- trate cases involving statutes, elections, human rights violations, treaties, regulations, and impeachment of public officials. As with the administrative court justices, up to 1995, the 14 regular members and six
substitutes were selected by presidential appointment from candidates who were proposed by the federal government and the parliament. Since 1995 judicial vacancies must be publicly advertised and open to individual applications.
Besides the three higher courts, the Austrian judicial system also includes four higher provincial courts (Oberlandesgerichte), 17 provincial and district courts (Landes-und Kreisgerichte), and various local- level courts (Bezirksgerichte).
REGIONAL AND LOCAL
GOVERNMENT
Although the Austrian constitution places most of the governmental power at the federal level, the provinces are given a considerable amount of responsibility for local government administration. Austria is com- posed of nine provinces (Länder); each province has its own provincial assembly (Landtag), directly elected by the citizens of the province by a proportional tech- nique, and an administration supervised by a gover- nor chosen by the assembly. The provincial assemblies function in the same way as the Nationalrat when governing the provinces; they are responsible for the implementation and execution of basic laws that have been formulated in the Nationalrat, such as those embodying education, fiscal, and social policies. The Austria 73
assemblies are also responsible for the legislation and execution of local policies such as zoning, regional planning, and local law enforcement. In addition to these duties, the provincial assemblies elect the mem- bers of the Bundesrat.
Since 1984 the smaller political parties, such as the Green parties, have prevailed in winning seats in the provincial assemblies. During the 1990s Green parties acquired as few as two and as many as seven seats in five of the nine provinces; the Greens have been the most successful in Vienna.
Besides the provincial government, each com- munity has a council. One member of the council is chosen by the other members to act as the head of the community (Bürgermeister). The members also choose a committee to execute and administer the council resolutions.
The Electoral System
A system of proportional representation is used in Aus- trian parliamentary elections. Seat allocation is accom- plished in two stages. During the first stage the total vote in each electoral district (Wahlkreis) is divided by the number of seats apportioned to that district. The result- ing number is referred to as the electoral quota: the num- ber of votes needed to win a seat in that district.
To be eligible to get additional seats in the second stage, a party must win at least one seat in the first stage. Votes and seats that are not allocated in the first stage are proportionately appropriated in the second stage between two larger provincial units (Wahlkreis-
verbände); the first of these larger units is made up of
the three eastern provinces (Vienna, Lower Austria, and Burgenland), and the second is composed of the other six provinces. The purpose of the second stage is to benefit smaller parties by gathering votes that may be scattered across the provinces.
In 1970 an electoral law was instituted to increase the number of Nationalrat deputies from 165 to 183; the law also decreased the number of electoral districts from 25 to 9. Once again, the purpose of this law was to help small parties by making the number of votes necessary to win a seat more equal. Following the establishment of this law each of the provinces became an individual electoral district.
At present all Austrian citizens over the age of 19 are eligible to vote. Citizens vote by means of an equal, direct, and secret ballot that lists party names in their order of electoral strength from the last election. To indicate the voter’s choice, the voter places a mark next
to the preferred party list. Only three of the provinces have compulsory voting in the parliamentary elections; however, voting turnout is high in all provinces despite the lack of a compulsory requirement in six of the provinces. Voting in presidential elections was compul- sory for the entire country until 1982 when a constitu- tional amendment gave the provinces the authority to impose such voting requirements.
The Party System
Parties remain the vital entities of Austrian democ- racy. During the period of the Great Coalition, when the joint ÖVP-SPÖ government had a parliamentary majority that could count on the support of over 90 percent of the deputies, the president was rendered a figurehead with no political power. The chancellor and the ministers, who were also the leaders of the two main political parties, retained the power to determine the course of public policy. Austria has transformed its original two-party system into a four-party system; but even in this system the role of the president has been sidelined by the powerful parties. According to the constitution the Austrian political system is similar to French semi-presidentialism, which is grounded upon a powerful president. In reality the political system functions differently, as the Austrian president has a very limited political role.
Although instances of single-party and all-party governments have taken place (ÖVP government from 1966 to 1970 and SPÖ government from 1971 to 1983; all-party government from 1945 to 1947), coali- tion governments between the ÖVP and SPÖ (Great Coalition) have spanned the years from 1945 to 1966 and after 1987 to the 1990s. In 1999 SPÖ and ÖVP dominance came to an end due to the emergence of the third force, the FPÖ. The FPÖ and the ÖVP formed a coalition government that the Austrian newspapers labeled the “black-blue” coalition. The chancellor Schüssel revived the “black-blue” coalition with the FPÖ in March 2003 even though, a few months before, the FPÖ representatives had walked out of his first government. Since 1999 the SPÖ has been relegated to the opposition, and the government has implemented a number of policies that have challenged Austria’s corporatist socio-economic regime.
In the postwar period a system was established to distribute appointive offices according to partisan affiliation and support. The Proporzsystem (the Aus- trian version of the spoils system) is used to determine employment and other benefits in various Austrian
institutions such as state-owned industries and busi- nesses; hence, the system offers the two principal par- ties the opportunity to reward party loyalty as well as maintain their influence over the bureaucracy. Up to 1966 the ÖVP and SPÖ applied this system in deter- mining cabinet appointments and other government jobs. Since 1999 the FPÖ has vigorously challenged the established spoils system with the removal of manag-