Alan's Green Thoughts' guide to the Austrian election of 2017
2017 is becoming one of the most interesting years for European politics, and the upcoming Austrian legislative election is certainly no exception.
There has been a lot of turmoil amongst Austria's main politics parties lately. The Austrian Greens (GRUNE) have first suffered the resignation of Eva Glawischnig, who in 2013 led them to their best ever performance (24 seats), the expulsion of their youth movement (the Young Greens, the most left-wing section) who have now teamed up with the Communist Party of Austria (KPO), and the decision of one of their longest-serving and best-known MPs, Peter Pilz, to set up his own list after delegates decline to renew his spot on the party list. The populist right Freedom Party of Austria has experienced yet another split, with Karl Schnell forming the Free Austria List (FLO) and taking 4 FPO MPs with him, although this has not done much to damage FPO's standing.
The SPO (Social Democrats of Austria) and OVP (Austrian People's Party), not very different from each other at all in practice and almost perpetually in grand coalition with each other in Austrian governments, have together seen a useful turnaround in fortunes since the 2016 Austrian Presidential election in particular, when both parties finished fourth and fifth in that race. The decision by Foreign Affairs Minister Sebastian Kurz, a popular moderate conservative, to lead the OVP led to a large boost in their ratings; just before Herr Kurz took control of the OVP reins they were in third place and polling only 22% on average, which was boosted to pole position in opinion polls and they are currently polling 33% on average. The SPO after some recent difficulties are doing their best to keep ahead of the FPO. Meanwhile, Peter Pilz' list has caused a huge split in the Green vote to the point where both lists are polling around 6% apiece, which will cause long-term damage to the green movement in Austria due to the impression that it is divided and riddled with infighting. Gestalt theory is very important in politics; the whole is greater than the sum of its parts (usually). Meanwhile, the decision of Irmgard Griss, who polled an impressive 19% in the last Austrian Presidential election, to join NEOS' list (NEOS is Austria's main social liberal party) even though she is not a member of NEOS has had no overall effect on its popularity. The other parties on the ballot in all Austrian states in this election are Weise (The Whites), a direct democracy party whose entry has gone by largely unnoticed; direct democracy is still not taking off as an international movement, and GILT (My Vote Counts!) which can be loosely described as a cross between Beppe Grillo's Five Star Movement and Die PARTEI. It is attracting reasonable support but is very unlikely to pass the crucial 4% threshold.
Getting a political party on the ballots for Austrian elections requires 2,600 valid signatures (or if contesting only in certain states anywhere from 100 to 500 signatures depending on the state). This number may seem small and easy given that there are as many as 6.4 million electors in Austria and that Austria is a geographically small country, but in practice obtaining 2,600 signatures in a matter of weeks requires considerable organisation, effort, and dedication to a cause, which not many individuals or aspiring new parties have. This is a considerable deterrent to frivolous candidates, far more so than monetary deposits of any kind. Also, the full political spectrum is well-covered in Austria, which is why only 10 parties are on the ballot across all Austria, with a further six only contesting in a few individual states: Socialist Left in Vienna and Upper Austria, Christian Poverty Party in Vienna, EU Exit Party in Vienna, and in Voralberg, the Men's Party, New Movement for the Future, and Christian Party of Austria. The liberal-right Team Stronach will not be running again, as its founder Frank Stronach, now 85 years of age, has withdrawn all funding and will retire from politics altogether. The OVP is in a good position to absorb their votes, having already absorbed some ex-Team Stronach MPs.
The nominal threshold for representation is 4% nationally, but parties can also enter the National Council by winning a seat in one of the 39 sub-constituencies (very difficult in practice), an important factor given how widely support for each major Austrian party varies. For example, in 2013, NEOS, which achieved 4.96% of the Austrian vote nationally, managed 13.1% in the Alpine state of Voralberg, which also gave the best Green result of 17.4% that year, but only 2.8% in Burgenland, the SPO's strongest state and also home to large Croatian and Hungarian minorities (it is the worst state for the Austrian Greens, and also the FPO as a result of that factor). The only Austrian state where the Communists have state representation, Styria, was also in 2013 the only state where the FPO finished first.
There are fewer parties contesting Austria's National Council election this year than in 2013, but the impact of each one will be greater.
There has been a lot of turmoil amongst Austria's main politics parties lately. The Austrian Greens (GRUNE) have first suffered the resignation of Eva Glawischnig, who in 2013 led them to their best ever performance (24 seats), the expulsion of their youth movement (the Young Greens, the most left-wing section) who have now teamed up with the Communist Party of Austria (KPO), and the decision of one of their longest-serving and best-known MPs, Peter Pilz, to set up his own list after delegates decline to renew his spot on the party list. The populist right Freedom Party of Austria has experienced yet another split, with Karl Schnell forming the Free Austria List (FLO) and taking 4 FPO MPs with him, although this has not done much to damage FPO's standing.
The SPO (Social Democrats of Austria) and OVP (Austrian People's Party), not very different from each other at all in practice and almost perpetually in grand coalition with each other in Austrian governments, have together seen a useful turnaround in fortunes since the 2016 Austrian Presidential election in particular, when both parties finished fourth and fifth in that race. The decision by Foreign Affairs Minister Sebastian Kurz, a popular moderate conservative, to lead the OVP led to a large boost in their ratings; just before Herr Kurz took control of the OVP reins they were in third place and polling only 22% on average, which was boosted to pole position in opinion polls and they are currently polling 33% on average. The SPO after some recent difficulties are doing their best to keep ahead of the FPO. Meanwhile, Peter Pilz' list has caused a huge split in the Green vote to the point where both lists are polling around 6% apiece, which will cause long-term damage to the green movement in Austria due to the impression that it is divided and riddled with infighting. Gestalt theory is very important in politics; the whole is greater than the sum of its parts (usually). Meanwhile, the decision of Irmgard Griss, who polled an impressive 19% in the last Austrian Presidential election, to join NEOS' list (NEOS is Austria's main social liberal party) even though she is not a member of NEOS has had no overall effect on its popularity. The other parties on the ballot in all Austrian states in this election are Weise (The Whites), a direct democracy party whose entry has gone by largely unnoticed; direct democracy is still not taking off as an international movement, and GILT (My Vote Counts!) which can be loosely described as a cross between Beppe Grillo's Five Star Movement and Die PARTEI. It is attracting reasonable support but is very unlikely to pass the crucial 4% threshold.
Getting a political party on the ballots for Austrian elections requires 2,600 valid signatures (or if contesting only in certain states anywhere from 100 to 500 signatures depending on the state). This number may seem small and easy given that there are as many as 6.4 million electors in Austria and that Austria is a geographically small country, but in practice obtaining 2,600 signatures in a matter of weeks requires considerable organisation, effort, and dedication to a cause, which not many individuals or aspiring new parties have. This is a considerable deterrent to frivolous candidates, far more so than monetary deposits of any kind. Also, the full political spectrum is well-covered in Austria, which is why only 10 parties are on the ballot across all Austria, with a further six only contesting in a few individual states: Socialist Left in Vienna and Upper Austria, Christian Poverty Party in Vienna, EU Exit Party in Vienna, and in Voralberg, the Men's Party, New Movement for the Future, and Christian Party of Austria. The liberal-right Team Stronach will not be running again, as its founder Frank Stronach, now 85 years of age, has withdrawn all funding and will retire from politics altogether. The OVP is in a good position to absorb their votes, having already absorbed some ex-Team Stronach MPs.
The nominal threshold for representation is 4% nationally, but parties can also enter the National Council by winning a seat in one of the 39 sub-constituencies (very difficult in practice), an important factor given how widely support for each major Austrian party varies. For example, in 2013, NEOS, which achieved 4.96% of the Austrian vote nationally, managed 13.1% in the Alpine state of Voralberg, which also gave the best Green result of 17.4% that year, but only 2.8% in Burgenland, the SPO's strongest state and also home to large Croatian and Hungarian minorities (it is the worst state for the Austrian Greens, and also the FPO as a result of that factor). The only Austrian state where the Communists have state representation, Styria, was also in 2013 the only state where the FPO finished first.
There are fewer parties contesting Austria's National Council election this year than in 2013, but the impact of each one will be greater.
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