GOVERNMENT OF

AUSTRIA
Audrey Hubo and Maxine Cervantes
• Population: 8, 751, 820
• Land area: 83, 879 sq. km
• Language: German
• Religion: Roman Catholic
• Capital: Vienna
• Ethnic Groups: Burgenlandic Croatians, Roma, Slovaks, Slovenians, Czechs and
Hungarians)
• 9 independent federal provinces: Burgenland, Carinthia, Lower Austria, Upper Austria,
Salzburg, Styria, Tirol, Vorarlberg and Vienna
 EXECUTIVE

PRESIDENT

- head of State
- elected by popular vote
- term: six years
- limited to two consecutive terms of office
- has several powers according to the Constitution, including the ability to appoint the
Chancellor, Supreme Court judges, Cabinet of Ministers, and military officers.
- the President acts as a figurehead for the nation and a symbol of national identity.
 EXECUTIVE

CHANCELLOR

- head of the government

- appointed by the president
- term: no limit
- leads the cabinet of ministers
- responsible for announcing Constitutional Court decisions, new laws, new treaties,
declarations of war, and new rules of procedure.
- works with provincial level governments when a bill requires further approval and signs
certifications of bills after the President.
 EXECUTIVE

COUNCIL OF MINISTERS

• Federal Minister of the Civil Service and Support

• Federal Minister for the EU, Arts, Culture and Media
• Federal Minister for Women, Families, and Youth
• Federal Minister of the Interior
• Federal Minister for Education, Science and Research
• Federal Minister for Finance
• Federal Minister for Labour, Social Affairs, Health and Consumer Protection
 EXECUTIVE

COUNCIL OF MINISTERS

• Federal Minister for Europe, Integration and Foreign Affairs

• Federal Minister for Sustainability and Tourism
• Federal Minister for Defence
• Federal Minister for Finance
• Federal Minister for Constittional Affairs, Reforms, Deregulation and Justice
• Federal Minister for Digital and Economic Affairs
• Federal Minister for Transport, Innovation and Technology
H.E. Alexander Van der Bellen H.E. Sebastian Kurz
(President) (Chancellor)
 LEGISLATIVE

The Federal Assembly

National Council: Federal Council: Bundesrat

Nationalrat (upper house)
(lower house)
 LEGISLATIVE
National Council: Nationalrat

- Lower house
- Legislative authority is concentrated here
- 183 members
- Elected for a maximum 4 year term
- may dissolve itself by a simple majority vote or it may be dissolved by the president on the
recommendation of the Chancellor.
- responsible for passing bills - before these bills become law, they must be approved by the
Federal Assembly. If the Federal Assembly vetoes the bills, the National Council may still
pass them for Presidential approval with a majority vote.
 LEGISLATIVE

Federal Council: Bundesrat

- upper house
- 62 members
- Elected by the legislatures of the nine provinces
- Elected for a maximum 4 year term
- The Federal Council only reviews legislation passed by the National Council and can delay
but not veto its enactment. 
 JUDICIARY

The highest courts of Austria's independent judiciary are the Constitutional Court;
the Administrative Court, which handles bureaucratic disputes;
the Supreme Court, for civil and criminal cases.
the Supreme Court is the court of highest instance for the judiciary
the Administrative Court acts as the supervisory body over the administrative branch
the Constitutional Court presides over constitutional issues. Justices of the three courts are
appointed by the president for specific terms. 
 POLITICAL PARTIES
• The Political Parties Act of July 2, 1975 states: The existence and diversity of political
parties are key factors in the Republic of Austria's democratic order.

• Political parties may be established at will provided that they do not violate federal
constitutional law. The activities of political parties may not be subject to specific legal
constraints.
• The Social Democratic Party of Austria is a social-democratic political party. It succeeds
Austria's original Social Democratic Party The SPÖ has ties to the Austrian Trade Union
Federation (ÖGB) and the Austrian Chamber of Labor (AK). Currently the second-largest
party in the National Council and second-largest in the Federal Council, the SPÖ forms the
main opposition to the federal government, a coalition of the Austrian People's Party (ÖVP)
and the Freedom Party of Austria (FPÖ
• The Austrian People's Party is a Christian democratic  and conservative political party in
Austria A successor to the Christian Social Party of the late 19th and early 20th centuries, it
is similar to the CDU/CSU of Germany in terms of ideology, with both operating as catch-all
 parties of the center-right. The Austrian People's Party was founded immediately following
the reestablishment of the Republic of Austria in 1945, and since then has been one of the
two largest Austrian political parties with the Social Democratic Party of Austria (SPÖ
• The Freedom Party of Austria is a right-wing populist and national-conservative political
party  in Austria . The party, led by Heinz-Christian Strache, is a member of the Europe of
Nations and Freedom group in the European Parliament, as well as of the Movement for a
Europe of Nations and Freedom