Austria
Austria exhibits high-range performance across three of the categories of the Global State of Democracy framework (Representation, Rights and Participation) and mid-range performance in Rule of Law. It is among the world’s top 25 per cent of countries in all factors except Freedom of Religion, Inclusive Suffrage and Electoral Participation. Over the last five years, Austria has experienced notable declines in several factors related to Rights and Rule of Law, most notably Freedom of the Press and Absence of Corruption. Austria features a competitive, highly industrialized economy that has consistently ranked among the richest in the world in terms of GDP per capita.
Austria was long characterized by a generally inclusive political and social system. It also hosts a complex corporatist governance system that is distinctive in its long tradition of consensus-building through the involvement of many potential interest groups, commonly referred to as “social partnership”. Nonetheless, it has come under increasing pressure from the deepening of societal divides and inequality, as well as the introduction of some new political cleavages in relation to the climate crisis and migration, and controversies over Covid-19 policies and measures in recent years, which have gone beyond the traditional right-left divide. These economic and cultural developments have led to declining trust in the government and a comparatively volatile political climate that has at least in part been driven by right-wing populist sentiments. Such volatility has been further aggravated by a number of high-profile corruption scandals that have come to unsettle the political landscape. Beyond such disruptive changes, the domestic agenda has been further polarized by a rise in hate speech incidents, a political instrumentalization of latent fears related to refugees and foreigners, and the politics of religion – particularly in terms of the status of Islam in Austria. Illustratively, this has resulted in the display of openly xenophobic and Islamophobic public discourse and political speech, and some pieces of legislation applying an unequal treatment of religious groups.
Given Austria’s declining democratic performance over the past five years, there are two developments to watch. First, the Group of States Against Corruption (CoE-GRECO) has repeatedly warned Austria about its non-compliance with respect to implementing its recommendations – particularly in relation to the oversight of members of parliament as well as the transparency of the legislative process. While there has been some modest political progress on this account – such as a draft Freedom of Information act - introduced measures still fall seemingly short of the reforms necessary to offset a declining trend. Second, press freedom has been increasingly undermined following reports of the harassment of journalists, political pressure, and restrictions on access to information. As a result, it will be important to watch the state of the media and its relationship with the government in the years ahead.
Monthly Event Reports
February 2024 | Court finds former Chancellor Sebastian Kurz guilty of perjury
Former Austrian Chancellor Sebastian Kurz was found guilty of providing false statements to a parliamentary inquiry regarding alleged corruption in his first tenure in government. Vienna’s Criminal Court issued an eight-month suspended jail sentence, which Kurz has appealed. The case revolves around Kurz’s role in appointing executives to the state holding company, Österreichische Beteiligungs AG (ÖBAG), while serving as chancellor. While Kurz claimed to only be informed about the appointments, which was a responsibility of the finance minister, evidence presented in court revealed that Kurz was actively involved. Kurz resigned in 2021 amid pressure following a corruption scandal.
November 2023 | Authorities announce compensation for prosecuted gay people
Justice Minister Alma Zadić introduced a draft law for the rehabilitation and compensation of individuals persecuted or convicted for consensual homosexual acts. The government has allocated approximately EUR 33 million for this initiative. The legislation targets those convicted under the previous legal code, which had decriminalized homosexuality in 1971 but still targeted gay men and treated homosexual and heterosexual relationships differently. These specific legal provisions subjected gay individuals to convictions for acts that would have been lawful if they were heterosexual. The Constitutional Court only repealed the last of these provisions in 2002, but the repeal did not clear criminal records, impacting those that were convicted.
October 2023 | Constitutional Court ruling limits political control of public broadcaster ORF
The Constitutional Court ruled the current appointment process to the two top bodies of the public broadcaster ORF – the board of trustees and the audience board – to be vulnerable to political capture and therefore unconstitutional. In particular, the ruling determined that the government has too much influence in the appointment process and that civil society has too little, enabling politically motivated appointments in favour of the ruling government majority. This violates the constitutional requirement for plurality. The court has requested changes to be made by March 2025. The ruling also explicitly guarantees the constitutional requirement for the existence of a public broadcasting body. Attempts to terminate public broadcasting entirely or to reduce its tasks or funding would thus be unconstitutional.
April 2023 | Study finds antisemitism is on the rise in Austria
A research study conducted by the Institute for Empirical Social Research and commissioned by the Austrian parliament has found that antisemitism is on the rise in the country, with 15 per cent of respondents showing severe antisemitic attitudes such as denying the Holocaust. More than a third of respondents believed that Jews tried to “take advantage” of the Nazi era and that they have “too much power in international business”. Austrian governments have continuously tried to address the issue due to the country’s Nazi past as an integral part of the Third Reich.
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