Austria

Austria was long characterized by a generally inclusive political and social system. 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. With regard to Impartial Administration, 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, and barring any reforms, it seems likely that the democratic performance of Austria with respect to these attributes may continue to decline in the medium-term.