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43-428: Much of the system has been dismantled over time, particularly since the 1990s. While in 1999 all but one of the nine federal states operated Proporz systems, five have since formally abolished them. Some aspects, such as its application on a municipal level, endure to this day. After the re-establishment of Austrian independence in 1945, there was a great desire to avoid the ideological factionalism that characterised

86-541: A parliamentary democracy : for all intents and purposes, the cabinet is subject to approval by the National Council and is responsible to it, with the president being little more than a figurehead. A related discrepancy between Austrian constitutional theory and Austrian political practice is that the constitution defines the President of the National Council to be Austria's second highest public official, junior only to

129-514: A semi-presidential democracy : the executive branch of government is supposed to be headed by the President , but is also answerable to the National Council. In practice, however, nearly all of the day-to-day work of governing is left to the Chancellor and Cabinet, which are dependent on the confidence of the National Council. The President has the theoretical right to name anyone eligible to serve in

172-476: A National Council resolution overruling a Federal Council objection merely has to meet a higher quorum than a regular resolution. In other words, the Federal Council does not have any real power to prevent adoption of legislation, the National Council being easily able to override it. There are three exceptions to this rule: The approval of the National Council is also required for most of the prerogatives of

215-576: A director from one party and deputy director from the other. After the agreement was leaked to the Kurier , the newspaper began a petition for a referendum to remove political influence over the ORF. The requirement of 200,000 signatures was overwhelmingly exceeded, with 832,353 received between 5 and 12 October 1964. However, the bill for the referendum never made it beyond committee in the National Council because

258-453: A federal state parliament. Under the municipal constitution, however, city and federal state business must be kept separate. Hence, while the city council and the federal state parliament have identical memberships, they hold separate meetings, and each body has separate presiding officers. When meeting as a city council, the deputies can only deal with city affairs; when meeting as a federal state parliament, they can only deal with affairs of

301-473: A historic model where central power during the time of the empire was largely concentrated in Vienna. However, the federal state governor ( Landeshauptmann ) is in charge of the administration of much of federal administrative law within the respective province, which makes this post an important political position. Furthermore, federal state competences include zoning laws, planning issues and public procurement on

344-410: A term of five years; each Austrian sixteen years or older on the day the election takes place is entitled to one vote. National Council elections are general elections . The voting system aims at party-list proportional representation and uses partially open lists : In addition to voting for a party list, voters may express preference for one individual candidate in the same party list. This means it

387-450: Is a federal republic consisting of nine federal states . The European Commission calls them provinces . Austrian federal states can pass laws that stay within the limits of the constitution, and each federal state has representatives in the main Austrian parliament. The majority of the land area in the federal states of Upper Austria, Lower Austria, Vienna, and Burgenland is situated in

430-414: Is a community defined to be a city by Austrian law, and a town is a community not defined to be a city. Many of Austria's cities have population figures on the order of 10,000 inhabitants; some are even smaller. National Council (Austria) Opposition (116) The National Council (Austrian German: Nationalrat , pronounced [nat͡si̯oˈnaːlˌʁaːt] ) is one of the two houses of

473-473: Is based on the municipal implementation, allows governments to deny portfolio to ministers from the opposition. The original system only remains in force in Lower Austria and Upper Austria . Most cities' statutes still provide for Proporz in city council positions, much the same as on the state level. Graz , Linz , Salzburg , and Wiener Neustadt all have such regulations, and thus city councillors from

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516-420: Is not possible to simultaneously vote for the party list of one party but exert influence on the candidate rankings on the party list of another party. A candidate receiving sufficiently many personal votes can rise in rank on his or her district party list; voters thus have a certain degree of influence as to which particular individual wins which particular seat. Austria's federal constitution defines Austria as

559-588: Is not unheard of for Austrians to consider themselves, for instance, Tyrolean first, Austrian second. In terms of boundaries, the present-day federal states arose from the crown lands of Austria-Hungary , an extensive multiethnic realm whose German-speaking nucleus emerged as the Republic of Austria after the dissolution of the Dual Monarchy in the end of World War I . The federal states of Upper Austria and Lower Austria are essentially equivalent to what were

602-525: Is where Austria's federal legislative authority is concentrated; for a bill to become federal law, it must be resolved upon by this chamber. Bills passed by the National Council are sent to the Federal Council for corroboration. If the Federal Council approves of the bill or simply does nothing for eight weeks, the bill has succeeded. If the Federal Council vetoes the bill, the National Council may still force it into law by essentially just passing it again;

645-497: The federal state parliament , and a federal state government ( Landesregierung ) headed by a governor ( Landeshauptmann or Landeshauptfrau ). Elections are held every five years (six years in Upper Austria ). The federal state constitution, among other things, determines how the seats in the federal state government are assigned to political parties, with most federal states having a system of proportional representation based on

688-597: The Austrian Parliament and is frequently referred to as the lower house . The constitution endows the National Council with far more power than the Federal Council . Wöginger • Rendi-Wagner • Kickl • Maurer • Meinl-Reisinger • [REDACTED] [REDACTED] [REDACTED] [REDACTED] [REDACTED] [REDACTED] [REDACTED] [REDACTED] [REDACTED] [REDACTED] [REDACTED] [REDACTED] [REDACTED] The National Council

731-456: The Danube valley and thus consists almost completely of accessible and easily arable terrain. Austria's most densely populated federal state is Vienna, the heart of what is Austria's only metropolitan area . Lower Austria ranks only fourth in population density even though it contains Vienna's suburbs; this is due to large areas of land being predominantly agricultural. The alpine federal state Tyrol,

774-463: The Federal Assembly to be exercised. For example, motions to call for a referendum aimed at having the President removed from office by the electorate, and motions to declare war all need a two-thirds majority in the National Council. Only motions to impeach the President can also be from the Federal Council. The 183 members of the National Council are elected by nationwide popular vote for

817-598: The First Austrian Republic (1919–1934). The divide between the socialists on the left and Catholic conservatives on the right ultimately led to the Austrian Civil War and ensuing Austrofascist dictatorship , which ended after Austria's annexation by Nazi Germany . This was exacerbated by the need for reconstruction in the wake of the Second World War , as well as Austria's precarious position between

860-675: The Princely County of Tyrol ; these three federal states had to cede territories to Czechoslovakia , Italy , and Yugoslavia when Austria emerged in its present form. The federal state of Vorarlberg is made up of territories acquired by the House of Habsburg in the 14th and 15th centuries, and was a semi-autonomous part of the County of Tyrol from 1861. The 1815 Congress of Vienna saw most of these areas lose their autonomy. Federal state charters were put in place in 1861, although power remained with

903-543: The Proporz system: "The conversion of solidarity into individual action entails a withdrawal of energy from the battlefield and marketplace of politics." Sociologist and jurist Gustav Edward Kafka said in 1958 that Proporz had become so entrenched that "one could say with good reason that most of the provisions of formal constitutional law, including republican form of government, could be changed without profound consequences, as long as this principle [Proporz] remains in force; yet

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946-500: The Western Allies and Soviet Union . These factors compelled the Austrian authorities to seek consensus and democratic stability in the new republic. All-party or "concentration" government was practised in both Allied-occupied Germany and Austria after the war – the provisional government of Karl Renner comprised a coalition of the ÖVP, SPÖ, and Communist Party of Austria (KPÖ) – but the development of Proporz truly began after

989-475: The first national election . The ÖVP under Leopold Figl won an absolute majority of seats, but nonetheless invited the SPÖ to join the cabinet. The federal grand coalition was renewed after every election until 1966. During the ensuing 21 years, an elaborate system was set up throughout the political and public service, in which partisan officials were appointed in an attempt to give approximately equal influence to both

1032-442: The 1970s and 1980s, the ÖVP was frequently consulted regarding government decisions and legislation; as such, the opposition was never truly shut out of decision-making. Proporz was written into the constitutions of most of the federal states in the 1940s. This particular implementation automatically entitled parties to cabinet positions if they won enough votes in state elections; in essence, proportional representation applied to

1075-606: The Austrian " social partnership ", in which workers, farmers, and employers are represented in government by four elected bodies. The SPÖ headed the Chamber of Labour and Austrian Trade Union Federation , while the ÖVP headed the Austrian Economic Chamber and Chamber of Agriculture. From 1958 onwards, the Austrian Broadcasting Corporation (ORF) was headed by four officials – two from each party – with

1118-484: The National Council as a minister or Chancellor. However, the National Council's right to sack a minister or the entire cabinet makes it all but impossible for Presidents to appoint a government entirely of their own choosing or keep it in office against the will of the National Council. While the President has the theoretical authority to dissolve a hostile National Council, constitutional convention prevents this power from being exercised. Austria accordingly functions as

1161-500: The cabinet. Until 1999, every state government with the exception of Vorarlberg operated in this manner. This effectively meant that the typical conventions of parliamentary democracy did not apply, as the partisan composition of governments was determined automatically. However, investiture of cabinet ministers, including the Governor , typically required the approval of the state legislature. Initially, this model effectively guaranteed

1204-522: The central government. Following the First World War , the federal state governments declared themselves part of the Republic of German-Austria . Negotiations at this time between the federal state governments and the national governments resulted in the agreement to form a federation, with a nationally elected lower house and an upper house representing the provinces . The city-federal state of Vienna

1247-404: The extent to which the parties sought to institutionalise these divisions became synonymous with Proporz . In 1949, Proporz was expanded to include the senior management of nationalized industry. After the success of the right-wing Federation of Independents in the 1949 election , the government sought to limit its influence by applying Proporz at all levels of administration. This included

1290-430: The governing parties, which headed the committees, feared losing influence. A bill scrapping the ORF's Proporz arrangement was ultimately passed during the single-party ÖVP government of Josef Klaus in 1966, and came into effect in 1967. Proporz , particularly the concept of consensus government, did not fade after the end of the first period of grand coalition. During the SPÖ majority governments of Bruno Kreisky in

1333-410: The less alpine but geographically more remote federal state Carinthia, and the non-alpine but near-exclusively agricultural federal state Burgenland are Austria's least densely populated federal states. The wealthy alpine federal state Vorarlberg is something of an anomaly due to its small size, isolated location and distinct Alemannic culture. Each Austrian federal state has an elected legislature ,

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1376-426: The number of delegates in the federal state parliament in place. The governor is elected by the federal state parliament , though in practice the governor is the leader of the majority party or coalition in the federal state parliament. Vienna , the capital of Austria, plays a double role as a city and a federal state. The mayor has the rank of a federal state governor, while the city council also functions as

1419-401: The opposition. Critics of Proporz characterised it as a form of political patronage and nepotism in which officials were appointed or received benefits on the basis of their party membership. They claimed the long-standing grand coalition fostered complacency and lack of direction in government. In Conflict and Freedom: Towards a Service Class Society (1972), Ralf Dahrendorf criticised

1462-472: The president proper. As a practical matter, however, the Chancellor, who nominally ranks third in the Austrian order of precedence, is the country's leading political figure. Thus, the President of the National Council is a representative of rather moderate significance: wielding less power than the president by extension means wielding less power than the Chancellor or even most federal ministers. The President of

1505-735: The regional level, which adds considerable weight to federal state politics. As a practical matter, there have been cases where federal states have been able to delay projects endorsed by the national government, as in the case of the Semmering Base Tunnel , a railway tunnel being built under the Semmering . Austrian federal states are formally and practically endowed with a much smaller degree of autonomy than American states or German lands . Even so, Austrians tend to identify passionately with their respective federal state and often defend what little independent governance their federal state has. It

1548-932: The return to free political competition would be tantamount to a revolution, though it would not require changing a comma in the constitution." During Austria's first annual word of the year selection in 1999, the jury was tasked with choosing a "word of the century". They were unable to come to a decision, and instead chose Proporz as "word of the half-century". They stated "it has shaped Austrian politics and social life like no other term since 1945", and represents "the exact opposite dynamic than existed previously in political life". States of Austria Wöginger • Rendi-Wagner • Kickl • Maurer • Meinl-Reisinger • [REDACTED] [REDACTED] [REDACTED] [REDACTED] [REDACTED] [REDACTED] [REDACTED] [REDACTED] [REDACTED] [REDACTED] [REDACTED] [REDACTED] [REDACTED] Austria

1591-451: The right to levy certain taxes. All other matters, including but not limited to criminal law, civil law, corporate law, most aspects of economic law, defense, most educational matters and academia, telecommunications, and much of the healthcare system are regulated by national law. There is also no judiciary of the federal states, since Austria's constitution defines the judiciary as an exclusively national matter. This centralisation follows

1634-424: The state. Austrian federalism is largely theoretical, as the federal states are granted few legislative powers. Austria's constitution initially granted all legislative powers to the federal states, but many powers have been subsequently taken away, and only a few remain, such as planning and zoning codes, nature protection, hunting, fishing, farming, youth protection, certain issues of public health and welfare and

1677-503: The two halves of the Archduchy of Austria , a principality which formed the empire's historic heartland. Salzburg is coterminous with the former Austro-Hungarian Duchy of Salzburg (the former Archbishopric ). Similarly, the federal state of Carinthia descends from the Duchy of Carinthia , the federal state of Styria descends from the Duchy of Styria , and the federal state of Tyrol descends from

1720-667: The ÖVP and SPÖ joint dominance over state governments, as other parties were typically too small to win any more than one cabinet position. However, the rise in popularity of the Freedom Party of Austria (FPÖ) and The Greens from the 1980s onwards saw the major parties increasingly forced to share their power. This form of Proporz has since been repealed in most states; first in Salzburg and Tyrol in 1999, then Styria and Burgenland in 2015, and Carinthia in 2017. The model in Vienna , which

1763-498: The ÖVP and SPÖ. Within the federal cabinet, state secretaries of one party were typically appointed to ministries controlled by the other. In addition, certain cabinet portfolios were nearly always awarded to one party or the other by convention; examples include the Ministry of Labour for the SPÖ and the Ministry of Agriculture for the ÖVP. On its own, this is in line with common practice in many countries with coalition government, but

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1806-403: The ÖVP having responsibility for radio and the SPÖ for television , which at this stage was in its infancy. After the importance of television became clear, the parties began to wrestle for influence. This was resolved by a secret agreement made during negotiations for the second Gorbach government, in which the parties agreed that every senior position in radio and television be shared between

1849-499: Was a part of Lower Austria up until 1921. The federal state of Burgenland is made up of the predominantly German-speaking area that the Kingdom of Hungary ceded to the First Austrian Republic after World War I as a result of the Treaties of Trianon and Saint-Germain-en-Laye . The nine federal states ( Bundesländer ) of Austria are: For the purpose of the above list, a city

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