System of Government

Elections
All the political institutions set up pursuant to the constitution derive directly or in-directly from three elections. These determine the Nationalrat (National Council-the lower house in Austra´s bi-cameral parliament system) and the Bundespräsident (the head of state) and the nine Landtage (the parliaments of the Länder). All Austrian nationals on reaching the age of nineteen are entitled to take part in these elections on the basis of equal, direct, secret and personal suffrage. There are also local elections, in which EU nationals living in Austria are also entitled to vote, and elections of the Austrian members of the European Parliament. In addition, there are instruments of direct democracy such as referenda, plebiscites and popular initiatives, which enable the citizens to become directly involved in the political decision-making processes. No more than two referenda have been held so far, one in 1978, on whether the Zwentendorf nuclear power station should be put into operation, and one in 1994, on whether Austria should accede to the EU. Popular initiatives have been launched far more often, and their frequency has been increasing. Whereas in the period between 1961 and 1965 only one initiative was launched, the number rose to seven in the period between 1996 to 1999. A total of 24 popular initiatives have taken place to date.

The Nationalrat is elected every four years or at shorter intervals if it so decides. The electoral procedure is based on proportional representation and is divided into three stages. Voters have one vote for the party of their choice and a preference vote for a specific candidate on the list of this party, both in the regional and the Länder constituencies. The seats are first allocated within the 43 regional constituencies, then in the nine Länder constituencies and finally at the federal level. One regional seat or 4% of valid votes throughout Austria are required for a seat in parliament. Provided that none of the parties winning considerable numbers of votes fails to meet the 4% requirement, the system ensures almost perfect proportionality, i.e. the proportion of votes and the proportion of seats won by any one party are practically the same.

The Bundespräsident is elected directly by the people. If none of the candidates polls an absolute majority of valid votes, a second ballot takes place. The term of office of the Bundespräsident is six years and thus longer than that of any other directly elected state authority. Re-election for the term of office immediately following is admissible. The Bundespräsident can be deposed; the procedure, however, is very complex, would be extremely difficult to carry out in practice and has never yet been undertaken. It would require a two-thirds majority in the Nationalrat, a majority in the Bundesversammlung (the joint meeting of Nationalrat and Bundesrat) and a referendum.

The members of the Bundesrat (the upper house of parliament) are elected by the Landtage for the duration of their respective legislative periods (five or six years) in accordance with the principle of proportional representation. The party-political composition of the individual Länder delegations corresponds to the respective strength of the parties in their Landtage; there is little difference between the party-political balance of power in the Bundesrat and that in the Nationalrat.

The Bundespräsident appoints the Bundeskanzler (Federal Chancellor) and, on the latter’s recommendation, the other members of the cabinet. The newly constituted federal government has to present itself within one week to the Nationalrat. On this occasion and at any other time, the Nationalrat can pass a vote of no confidence against all or individual members of the government. This results in immediate removal from office. By constitutional convention, the Bundespräsident keeps a low profile in the formation of a new government and actually limits himself to appointing the cabinet that results from the majority constellation in the Nationalrat and from the party negotiations. The Bundespräsident can at any time dismiss the Bundeskanzler (but no other individual member of the cabinet) as well as the entire federal cabinet. However, this has never yet happened and would mean a breach of the code of practice. In critical situations, Bundespräsidenten have always sought to ensure the continuity and stability of the government.

Austria is a party democracy, and without the parties, interaction between the political institutions would hardly be possible. Between elections the political parties are the bonding force between the powers: the cabinet and the Nationalrat are dominated by the same political party or, in the case of a coalition, the same political parties.

Federal Government
The Second Republic experienced different forms of government which had a strong bearing on the way the Austrian system of government works. From 1945 to 1947, all the parties were represented in the government. This constellation was followed by an ÖVP/SPÖ coalition, which lasted until 1966 (ÖVP-Österreichische Volkspartei; SPÖ-Sozialistische Partei Österreichs). In that year, the ÖVP polled an absolute majority and formed a one-party government. In 1970, the SPÖ won a relative majority. Since possible coalitions had been excluded by pledges given by the various parties (SPÖ - FPÖ-Freiheitliche Partei Österreichs; ÖVP - FPÖ) or were excluded in the negotiations (SPÖ - ÖVP), a minority government was formed which received FPÖ support in parliament. New elections were called in 1971, in order to create a government with a majority in parliament. In this election, the SPÖ polled an absolute majority. It was able to repeat this success and to continue in a one-party government in 1975 and 1979. In 1983, the SPÖ lost five seats and formed a coalition with the FPÖ. When the FPÖ changed its leader in 1986, the SPÖ terminated the coalition. After the parliamentary elections of 1986, another ‘grand’ coalition was formed, this time headed by the SPÖ. SPÖ and ÖVP continued to form coalition governments after the general elections in 1990, 1994 and 1995. Attempts to negotiate another coalition agreement after the general election of 3 October, 1999 failed. Since 4 February, 2000, the governing coalition is composed of ÖVP and FPÖ.

The Austrian Constitutional Law (Article 69 of the Federal Constitutional Law) entrusts the highest administrative business in its entirety to the Federal Government, unless it is the express prerogative of the Bundespräsident. The federal cabinet as a collegiate body takes charge only of the business expressly assigned to it by law (or by decision of the Bundespräsident). Responsibility for all the remaining business lies with the responsible federal ministers. Such business constitutes by far the greater part of government business and lies within the competence of the individual federal ministers who act autonomously, on their own authority.