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social policy and staunchly supports EU membership. The 1972 Salzburg Program characterized the ÖVP as a progressive center party and adopted a social market economy policy.

The party must consider the interests of the dif- ferent groups that form the party constituency. The farmers want the party to maintain the conservative Christian ideology of the past; they request state subsi- dies to sustain their farming lifestyles through difficult weather and land conditions and to halt the flow of labor and resources to the urban areas. Constituents associated with the business groups want the ÖVP to uphold the non-Socialist agenda by challenging Socialist-endorsed welfare and education policies. In addition, employment issues are important to many of the groups that compose ÖVP membership. According to an exit poll, members of the electorate voted for the ÖVP in the 1995 election because of the party’s commitment to reducing expenditures and preventing tax increases. Most recently, elements of the right- wing populist agenda of the FPÖ have been adopted by the ÖVP to attract right-wing voters. Some of the most relevant ones include harsher policies related to immigrants and asylum-seekers, free-market socio- economic policies, and tax cuts. In 2000, for instance, Interior Minister Ernst Strasser of the ÖVP imple- mented measures to tighten immigration and asylum policies. He introduced obligatory citizenship classes for new immigrants and proposals for 24-hour fast- tracking of asylum applications.

MEMBERSHIP AND CONSTITUENCY

Although direct membership in the ÖVP does occur, most members join the party indirectly through the previously mentioned suborganizations. As of 2005 party membership totaled 630,000. Most members and ÖVP elected officials are practicing Catholics.

In 1999 the ÖVP obtained one of the worst elec- toral results in its history, gaining 26.9 percent of the vote, some 500 votes less than the FPÖ. In 2002 the party produced an astonishing comeback, winning 42.3 percent of the vote and 79 seats and significantly erod-

ing the FPÖ’s base of support. This success is largely attributed to the ÖVP strategy aimed at challenging the FPÖ on its own ground. The ÖVP has co-opted policies and campaign themes that appeal to FPÖ voters. FINANCING

Approximately 30 percent of the federal party’s income comes from membership dues to the suborganizations. Other party funds come from party taxes gathered from functionaries who acquired their positions due to party influence, business donations, and the federal government.

LEADERSHIP

The chair of the ÖVP is Dr. Wolfgang Schüssel. Schüs- sel replaced former party chairman Erhard Busek because Busek had made too many enemies within the party. In 2002 the ÖVP obtained an excellent electoral result, thus pulling ahead of the SPÖ by gaining 5.8 percent more votes. Schüssel is an excellent debater and strategist. The collapse of the FPÖ’s vote, for instance, is largely a consequence of the competitive strategy of Schüssel’s ÖVP. Schüssel co-opted the FPÖ into government and then proceeded to adopt policies that appealed to FPÖ voters.

The party seems well positioned as Austria’s lead- ing party. Its major challenge is to balance the federal budget and reduce state intervention in the economy, while reducing the unemployment rate and increasing GDP growth. The 2005 upheaval in the FPÖ, how- ever, threatened to undermine the ÖVP’s government coalition.

FREEDOMITES OR THE FREEDOM

PARTY

(Die Freiheitlichen; FPÖ)

HISTORY

In January 1995 the Freedom Party of Austria (FPÖ) officially changed its name to the Freedomites. The party was founded in 1956 by a former Nazi, Anton Feinthaller, and drew a considerable amount of its support from former National Socialists. The party is considered the successor to the right-wing League of Independents; in the 1970s the party shifted away from its extreme right-wing tendencies to a more lib- eral perspective. Due to this shift in political ideology, the party suffered from factional disputes between the right-wing nationalists and moderate liberals through the early 2000s.

After the 1983 election the party formed a coali- tion with the SPÖ; this was the first time that the party had participated in a federal government. The coalition collapsed in 1986 with the election of a right- wing party chairman, Jörg Haider. However, during the 1986, 1990, and 1994 elections, the party made sub- stantial gains in Nationalrat balloting at the expense of the ÖVP and, to a lesser extent, the SPÖ. Over this period the Freedomites also gained electoral strength in provincial elections, especially in Vienna.

In 1999 the FPÖ obtained a stunning result dur- ing the general election, winning 26.9 percent of the vote and beating the ÖVP for second place behind the SPÖ. For the first time in its history the FPÖ had been able to overtake the moderates of the ÖVP and become a serious challenger for control of Austria’s middle-class voters. In the wake of its strong electoral showing the FPÖ entered into a coalition government with the ÖVP.

No longer in the opposition and no longer able to deploy its successful strategy of irresponsible oppo- sition, the FPÖ gradually lost the support of some of its voters. While prior to 1999 the FPÖ had been able to promise both tax cuts and increased govern- ment expenditures such as fixed child payment for all parents notwithstanding economic status, in 2000 it was severely constrained by the negative state of gov- ernment finances. In the 2002 general election the FPÖ was severely defeated, managing to gain only 10 percent of the vote and 18 seats. After the election the FPÖ once again took part in a coalition government with the ÖVP, but this time the party was much weaker compared to 1999. In April 2005 most of the FPÖ’s original membership left the party to form a new one, the Alliance for the Future of Austria (Bündnis Zuku- nft Österreich, or BZÖ). The FPÖ’s future was thus called into serious doubt.

ORGANIZATION

Delegates to the national conference are elected by provincial congresses; the delegates select the party leader and chief deputies. Senior party appointments and party activities are the responsibility of the party leader. Despite the centralized nature of the leader’s authority, the party is plagued by factional disputes that influence the decision making of the leader; furthermore, the party discourages excessive central- ization and encourages a considerable level of local independent activity.

The party publishes a weekly newspaper, Neue Freie

Zeitung (New Free News), and a theoretical journal, Freie Argumente (Free Debate).

POLICY

The Freedomites have been considered a populist, right-wing party advocating moderate social reform, worker participation in management, and more strin- gent immigration controls. The party also maintained an anti-EU membership position, although the party’s position did not halt Austrian EU membership. In the 1990s and early 2000s the party tilted away from an extreme nationalist character and liberalized its per- spective on important issues; its adoption of the name Freedomites was intended to show the party’s rejection of old-style party politics. This change was viewed as resulting from generational changes in the party’s top ranks; however, the Freedomites continued to advocate “Austria First” interests.

Because of its belief in individuality and achieve- ment, the party platform is anti-Socialist and anti- Catholic, perceiving both convictions as constraints on individual freedom and liberty. The party disapproves of excessive government regulation and the established

Proporzsystem that distributes jobs and benefits accord-

ing to party affiliation and support; as a result, the two major parties have monopolized the distribution of significant government jobs.

Once the FPÖ joined the ÖVP in government in 1999, it began to push for policies that eschewed Austria’s traditional consensual politics. The FPÖ, for instance, passed bills to balance the state budget, reduce taxes, privatize state assets, and crack down on illegal immigrants. The FPÖ also deployed a new style of government that broke with tradition and produced decisions without consulting Austria’s influential cor- poratist institutions.

MEMBERSHIP AND CONSTITUENCY

Party membership was approximately 35,000 as of 2005, but the defection of numerous party leaders in April 2005 has split the party’s base and called into question its future. In the past, 10 percent of the vot- ers who voted for the Freedomites were also members of the party. Most of the party supporters have been civil servants, white-collar workers, or self-employed; many have come from small towns. The provinces that showed the strongest support for the party in provin- cial elections of the 1990s are Vienna, Carinthia, and Vorarlberg.

FINANCING

Since the party receives less money from membership donations (due to a smaller membership) and exter- nal economic help, it depends more on government

subsidies to finance party campaigns and programs than the SPÖ and ÖVP.

LEADERSHIP

Over the years the leadership of the old FPÖ party and the current Freedomites has fluctuated from a right- wing orientation to a more liberal attitude. In Sep- tember 2002 divisions within the FPÖ escalated over the timing of tax cuts and the issue of EU enlarge- ment and led to a number of senior party members resigning their posts. This led to the collapse of the ÖVP–FPÖ coalition and to new elections. In the November 2002 general election the ÖVP obtained an excellent result, winning 42.3 percent of the vote and 79 seats, while the FPÖ only managed to win 10 percent of the vote and 18 seats. Despite polling very badly in the general election, the FPÖ, under the new leadership of Herbert Haupt, agreed to revive the right-to-center coalition with the ÖVP in Febru- ary 2003. In June 2004 the moderate Haupt stepped down as party leader and was replaced by the state secretary for social affairs, Ursula Haubner, the sister of Jörg Haider. However, Haider, Haubner, and several other founding members left the party in April 2005 to form a new party, the Alliance for the Future of Austria (Bündnis Zukunft Österreich, or BZÖ). Upon this defection, Hilmer Kabas stepped in as interim party leader. Kabas was subsequently succeeded as party chairman by Heinz-Christian Strache.

PROSPECTS

In the early 2000s the FPÖ retained a sizeable mem- bership and strong local party branches and received public funding at the provincial level. It also retained 10 percent of the popular vote. The party continued to occupy the populist, right-wing political space. How- ever, the defection of Haider and his allies—including most of the FPÖ’s representatives in parliament—to form a new, competing party in 2005 has called into question the future of the FPÖ.

Minor Political Parties