1.
Bicameralism
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A bicameral legislature is one in which the legislators are divided into two separate assemblies, chambers or houses. As of 2015, somewhat less than half of the national legislatures are bicameral. Often, the members of the two chambers are elected or selected using different methods, which vary from country to country and this can often lead to the two chambers having very different compositions of members. However, in many Westminster system parliaments, the house to which the executive is responsible can overrule the other house, some legislatures lie in between these two positions, with one house only able to overrule the other under certain circumstances. For example, one house would represent the aristocracy, and the other would represent the commoners as was the case in the Kingdom of England. Others, such as France under the Ancien Régime had a legislature known as the Estates General, which consisted of separate chambers for the clergymen, the nobility. The Founding Fathers of the United States also favoured a bicameral legislature, the idea was to have the Senate be wealthier and wiser. Benjamin Rush saw this though, and noted that, this type of dominion is almost always connected with opulence, the Senate was created to be a stabilising force, elected not by mass electors, but selected by the State legislators. Senators would be more knowledgeable and more sort of republican nobility—and a counter to what Madison saw as the fickleness. He noted further that the use of the Senate is to consist in its proceeding with more coolness, with system and with more wisdom. Madisons argument led the Framers to grant the Senate prerogatives in foreign policy, an area where steadiness, discretion, the Senate was chosen by state legislators, and senators had to possess a significant amount of property in order to be deemed worthy and sensible enough for the position. In fact, it was not until the year 1913 that the 17th Amendment was passed, as part of the Great Compromise, they invented a new rationale for bicameralism in which the Senate would have states represented equally, and the House would have them represented by population. Many nations with parliaments have to some degree emulated the British three-tier model, nevertheless, the older justification for second chambers—providing opportunities for second thoughts about legislation—has survived. An example of controversy regarding a second chamber has been the debate over the powers of the Canadian Senate or the election of the Senate of France. The relationship between the two chambers varies, in cases, they have equal power, while in others. The first tends to be the case in federal systems and those with presidential governments, the latter tends to be the case in unitary states with parliamentary systems. In the United States both houses of the U. S and this is due to their original location in the two-story building that was to house them. In Canada, the country as a whole is divided into a number of Senate Divisions, each with a different number of Senators, Senators in Canada are not elected by the people but are appointed by the Governor General on the advice of the Prime Minister
2.
Austrian Parliament Building
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The Austrian Parliament Building in Vienna is where the two houses of the Austrian Parliament conduct their sessions. The building is located on the Ringstraße boulevard in the first district Innere Stadt, near Hofburg Palace and it was built to house the two chambers of the Imperial Council, the bicameral legislature of the Cisleithanian part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire. Since its construction, the Parliament Building has been the seat of two houses, and their successors—the National Council and the Federal Council —of the Austrian legislature. The foundation stone was laid in 1874, the building was completed in 1883, the architect responsible for its Greek Revival style was Theophil Hansen. He designed the building holistically, aiming to have each element harmonizing with all the others and he was therefore also responsible for the interior decoration, such as statues, paintings, furniture, chandeliers, and numerous other elements. Hansen was honored by Emperor Franz Joseph with the title of Freiherr after its completion, following heavy damage and destruction in World War II, most of the interior has been restored to its original splendour. The parliament building covers over 13,500 square meters, making it one of the largest structures on Ringstraße. It contains over one hundred rooms, the most important of which are the Chambers of the National Council, the Federal Council, the building also includes committee rooms, libraries, lobbies, dining rooms, bars and gymnasiums. The Parliament Building is the site of important state ceremonies, most notably the swearing-in ceremony of the President of Austria, the building is closely associated with the two parliamentary bodies, as is shown by the use of the term Hohes Haus as a metonym for Parliament. Parliamentary offices spill over into nearby buildings, such as the Palais Epstein, the constitution known as the February Patent promulgated in 1861 created an Imperial Council as an Austrian legislature, and a new building had to be constructed to house this constitutional organ. The original plan was to two separate buildings, one for the House of Lords and one for the House of Deputies. The precursor to the present building was the temporary House of Representatives, located on Währinger Straße and it was erected within six weeks in March and April 1861 according to plans designed by Ferdinand Fellner, a famous Austrian theatre architect. In its layout with a ramp and an area, the Abgeordnetenhaus was a model for the later Parliament Building. Completed on 25 April 1861 this temporary structure was opened by Emperor Franz Joseph I of Austria, the site for the new building was on the city’s ancient fortifications and walls. In his famous decree Es ist Mein Wille of 1857, Emperor Franz Joseph I had laid down plans for the Ringstraße to replace the old city walls. The parliament building was supposed to feature prominently on the boulevard, in proximity to Hofburg Palace. An Imperial Commission was appointed to consider a design for a Parliament building, after studying rival proposals, the Imperial Commission chose the plan by Theophil Hansen, who could rely on his drafts for Zappeion Hall in Athens. Ministry of the Interior gave von Hansen the order to design the new Austrian parliament building, ground was broken in June 1874, the cornerstone has the date “2 September 1874“ etched into it
3.
Vienna
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Vienna is the capital and largest city of Austria and one of the nine states of Austria. Vienna is Austrias primary city, with a population of about 1.8 million, and its cultural, economic and it is the 7th-largest city by population within city limits in the European Union. Today, it has the second largest number of German speakers after Berlin, Vienna is host to many major international organizations, including the United Nations and OPEC. The city is located in the part of Austria and is close to the borders of the Czech Republic, Slovakia. These regions work together in a European Centrope border region, along with nearby Bratislava, Vienna forms a metropolitan region with 3 million inhabitants. In 2001, the city centre was designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site, apart from being regarded as the City of Music because of its musical legacy, Vienna is also said to be The City of Dreams because it was home to the worlds first psycho-analyst – Sigmund Freud. The citys roots lie in early Celtic and Roman settlements that transformed into a Medieval and Baroque city and it is well known for having played an essential role as a leading European music centre, from the great age of Viennese Classicism through the early part of the 20th century. The historic centre of Vienna is rich in architectural ensembles, including Baroque castles and gardens, Vienna is known for its high quality of life. In a 2005 study of 127 world cities, the Economist Intelligence Unit ranked the city first for the worlds most liveable cities, between 2011 and 2015, Vienna was ranked second, behind Melbourne, Australia. Monocles 2015 Quality of Life Survey ranked Vienna second on a list of the top 25 cities in the world to make a base within, the UN-Habitat has classified Vienna as being the most prosperous city in the world in 2012/2013. Vienna regularly hosts urban planning conferences and is used as a case study by urban planners. Between 2005 and 2010, Vienna was the worlds number-one destination for international congresses and it attracts over 3.7 million tourists a year. The English name Vienna is borrowed from the homonymous Italian version of the name or the French Vienne. The etymology of the name is still subject to scholarly dispute. Some claim that the name comes from Vedunia, meaning forest stream, which produced the Old High German Uuenia. A variant of this Celtic name could be preserved in the Czech and Slovak names of the city, the name of the city in Hungarian, Serbo-Croatian and Ottoman Turkish has a different, probably Slavonic origin, and originally referred to an Avar fort in the area. Slovene-speakers call the city Dunaj, which in other Central European Slavic languages means the Danube River, evidence has been found of continuous habitation since 500 BC, when the site of Vienna on the Danube River was settled by the Celts. In 15 BC, the Romans fortified the city they called Vindobona to guard the empire against Germanic tribes to the north
4.
Austria
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Austria, officially the Republic of Austria, is a federal republic and a landlocked country of over 8.7 million people in Central Europe. It is bordered by the Czech Republic and Germany to the north, Hungary and Slovakia to the east, Slovenia and Italy to the south, the territory of Austria covers 83,879 km2. The terrain is mountainous, lying within the Alps, only 32% of the country is below 500 m. The majority of the population speaks local Bavarian dialects of German as their native language, other local official languages are Hungarian, Burgenland Croatian, and Slovene. The origins of modern-day Austria date back to the time of the Habsburg dynasty, from the time of the Reformation, many northern German princes, resenting the authority of the Emperor, used Protestantism as a flag of rebellion. Following Napoleons defeat, Prussia emerged as Austrias chief competitor for rule of a greater Germany, Austrias defeat by Prussia at the Battle of Königgrätz, during the Austro-Prussian War of 1866, cleared the way for Prussia to assert control over the rest of Germany. In 1867, the empire was reformed into Austria-Hungary, Austria was thus the first to go to war in the July Crisis, which would ultimately escalate into World War I. The First Austrian Republic was established in 1919, in 1938 Nazi Germany annexed Austria in the Anschluss. This lasted until the end of World War II in 1945, after which Germany was occupied by the Allies, in 1955, the Austrian State Treaty re-established Austria as a sovereign state, ending the occupation. In the same year, the Austrian Parliament created the Declaration of Neutrality which declared that the Second Austrian Republic would become permanently neutral, today, Austria is a parliamentary representative democracy comprising nine federal states. The capital and largest city, with a population exceeding 1.7 million, is Vienna, other major urban areas of Austria include Graz, Linz, Salzburg and Innsbruck. Austria is one of the richest countries in the world, with a nominal per capita GDP of $43,724, the country has developed a high standard of living and in 2014 was ranked 21st in the world for its Human Development Index. Austria has been a member of the United Nations since 1955, joined the European Union in 1995, Austria also signed the Schengen Agreement in 1995, and adopted the euro currency in 1999. The German name for Austria, Österreich, meant eastern realm in Old High German, and is cognate with the word Ostarrîchi and this word is probably a translation of Medieval Latin Marchia orientalis into a local dialect. Austria was a prefecture of Bavaria created in 976, the word Austria is a Latinisation of the German name and was first recorded in the 12th century. Accordingly, Norig would essentially mean the same as Ostarrîchi and Österreich, the Celtic name was eventually Latinised to Noricum after the Romans conquered the area that encloses most of modern-day Austria, around 15 BC. Noricum later became a Roman province in the mid-first century AD, heers hypothesis is not accepted by linguists. Settled in ancient times, the Central European land that is now Austria was occupied in pre-Roman times by various Celtic tribes, the Celtic kingdom of Noricum was later claimed by the Roman Empire and made a province
5.
President of Austria
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The President of Austria is the federal head of state of Austria. The President of Austria is directly elected by adult suffrage once in every six years. The Presidents offices are located in the Leopoldine Wing of the Hofburg Imperial Palace, many presidents have gained tremendous popularity while in office, and no incumbent has ever lost a bid for re-election, although Kurt Waldheim did not run for a second term in office. Five presidents have died in office, from 2004 to 2016, the office was occupied by social democrat Heinz Fischer. The empire noticeably began to fracture in late 1917 and manifestly disintegrated into a number of independent nation states over the course of the following year, as chairman, he also became a member of the Austrian State Council. On 12 November 1918, the State Council collectively assumed the functions of head of state according to a resolution of the National Assembly, on 11 November, Emperor Karl I announced I relinquish every participation in the administration of the State. Likewise I have released the members of the Austrian Government from their offices, the next day, parliament proclaimed the Republic of German Austria. The assembly presidents continued to serve as acting heads of state until 4 March 1919, anton David and Seitz were the presidents of the National Constituent Assembly. Austrias first Bundespräsident proper thus was Michael Hainisch, Karl Seitz immediate successor, in a related note, many popular sources quote some more or less random date between October 1918 and March 1919 as the beginning of Seitz tenure. The constitution originally defined Austria to be a parliamentary republic, originally, the constitution was radically parliamentarian in character. The bicameral parliament, called the Federal Assembly, not only possessed legislative power, the cabinet was appointed by the National Council rather than the president, who in turn was elected by the both houses of the Federal Assembly rather than the people. The presidents term of office was four rather than six years, the president was answerable to the Federal Assembly and, in particular, had no authority to dissolve the National Council. Not even having much influence on the appointment of Constitutional Court justices. The role and nature of the President was the result of a compromise reached during the drafting of the constitution and it was under this constitutional framework that Michael Hainisch and Wilhelm Miklas assumed office on 9 December 1920 and 10 December 1928, respectively. The parliamentary system prescribed by the constitution was highly unpopular, however, the Heimwehr was in favor of a system granting more powers to the president. On 7 December 1929, under growing pressure from the Heimwehr and it also called for the office to be filled by popular vote for a term of six years. The first election was scheduled for 1934, however, owing to the growing worldwide financial crisis, all parties agreed to suspend the election in favour of having Miklas reelected by parliament. Though Austria now was a dictatorship in all but name, power was concentrated in the hands of the Chancellor, Wilhelm Miklas was stripped of the powers hed gained in 1929, but agreed to act as a figurehead of institutional continuity anyway
6.
Chancellor of Austria
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The Federal Chancellor is the head of government of Austria. In his capacity as chairman of the Austrian Federal Government, the chancellor represents the federal authority of the executive branch. Though formally a member of the cabinet, the Chancellor is considered to be the most powerful position in Austrian politics. His official seat is in the Federal Chancellery, the current Chancellor is Christian Kern of the Social Democratic Party, who was sworn into office on 17 May 2016. The task was fulfilled by the Prince-Archbishops of Mainz as Archchancellors of the German lands. These were also the times when attempts were made to balance Imperial absolutism by the creation of Imperial Governments, ultimately a failure. Beside a Bohemian and Hungarian chancellery, he created the office of an Austrian chancellor in Vienna, responsible for the Archduchy of Austria proper with the Inner Austrian territories, under Emperor Leopold I the term again became Hofkanzler with Johann Paul Freiherr von Hocher, and Theodor von Strattman. He was succeeded by Johann Philipp von Cobenzl, who was dismissed by Emperor Francis II over the Partition of Poland and was succeeded by Johann Amadeus Francis de Paula. With the consequent dissolution of the Holy Roman Empire and founding of the Austrian Empire, Francis II abdicated the former Imperial Throne, Prince Klemens von Metternich was appointed by Francis I to the positions of Hofkanzler and Staatskanzler. However, there is some opinion that the Chancellor title was not used between Prince Kaunitz-Rietbergs resignation in 1792 and 1821, as the Metternich system had become a synonym for his reactionary politics, the title of a State Chancellor was abolished upon the 1848 revolutions. With the enactment of the Constitution of Austria on 10 November 1920, the Chancellor is appointed and sworn in by the President. In theory, the President can appoint anyone eligible to be elected to the National Council, in practice, a Chancellor is unable to govern unless he or she commands the confidence of the National Council. For this reason, the Chancellor is usually the leader of the largest party in the National Council, a notable exception to this occurred after the 1999 election. The Freedom Party won the most seats and went into coalition with the Peoples Party, while this would have normally made Freedom Party leader Jorg Haider Chancellor, he was deemed too controversial to be a member of the Cabinet, let alone Chancellor. He thus stepped aside in favour of Peoples Party leader Wolfgang Schüssel, the Chancellor has no term limits. As a matter of convention, the Chancellor usually offers his or her resignation to the President upon dissolution of the National Council. The President usually declines and directs the Chancellor and his or her cabinet to operate as a government until a new National Council is in session. In fact, the constitution expressly encourages the President to use a Chancellor as his or her own interim successor, a Chancellor is typically appointed or dismissed together with his or her ministers
7.
Vice-Chancellor of Austria
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In Austrian politics, the Vice-Chancellor is a member of the Federal Government acting as a deputy to the Federal Chancellor. 69 of the Constitution of Austria states, The Vice-Chancellor stands in for the Federal Chancellor in his field of functions. If both Federal Chancellor and Vice Chancellor are hindered, the Federal President appoints a member of the government to represent the Federal Chancellor, in practice, the Vice-Chancellor is normally the leading member of the junior party within the current coalition government, frequently the party chairman. If only one party is represented in the government, the Vice Chancellor is often the Chancellors presumed successor
8.
Sebastian Kurz
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Sebastian Kurz is an Austrian politician, who has been Austrias Minister for Foreign Affairs and Integration since 2013. He had been described as the youngest Minister for Foreign Affairs and integration throughout the world and European history and he is a member of the Austrian Peoples Party. Kurz was born in Vienna and brought up in the city district of Meidling and he entered the Bundesgymnasium und Bundesrealgymnasium Erlgasse in 1996 and after his final exam in 2004 Kurz completed the obligatory military service. In 2011, he decided to suspend his law studies at the University of Vienna, in 2009 Kurz was elected chairman of the youth branch of the Austrian Peoples Party. Between 2010 and 2011 he was member of Viennas city council, in April 2011 Kurz was appointed to the newly created post of State Secretary for Integration. In the 2013 general election, Kurz was elected as a member of parliament and he won the most direct votes of any member of parliament in the election. In December 2013, Kurz became Austrias Foreign Minister, whose portfolio was at his request widened to include Social integration. At the time of his swearing-in Kurz was Austrias youngest government minister since the foundation of the republic and the youngest foreign minister in the European Union and the world. His first trip abroad took Foreign Minister Sebastian Kurz to Croatia, in February 2014, Sebastian Kurz hosted the first of several rounds of negotiations on the nuclear program of Iran in Vienna, strengthening Austria’s position as place of dialogue. The negotiations were concluded on 14 July 2015, when the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action was signed by Iran, the P5+1. During his first year in office, Kurz chaired the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe until May 2014, in late 2014, he succeeded Radosław Sikorski as co-chair of the European People’s Party Foreign Ministers Meeting, alongside Elmar Brok. In November 2014, Sebastian Kurz was appointed to lead the European Peoples Party Foreign Affairs Ministers together with Elmar Brok, Chair of Foreign Affairs Committee in the EP. In 2015, Sebastian Kurz proposed a new Islamgesetz illegalizing foreign funding of mosques and paying salaries of imams and it however also gives Muslims additional rights, such as the rights to halal food and pastoral care in the military. Sebastian Kurz said the changes were intended to combat the influence of radical Islam in Austria. The law was passed by the Austrian parliament in February 2015, as part of the Humanitarian Initiative, Kurz hosted the Vienna Conference on the Humanitarian Impact of Nuclear Weapons in late 2014. Following his proposal, Vienna later hosted the leading to the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action for the nuclear program of Iran in 2015. List of foreign ministers in 2017 List of current foreign ministers Personal Website
9.
Alexander Van der Bellen
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Alexander Van der Bellen is an Austrian politician and economist who is the 12th President of Austria since 26 January 2017. He was a professor of economics at the University of Vienna before he entered national politics, on 4 December 2016, he won the ensuing election, taking approximately 54% of the vote. Van der Bellen has described himself as a centrist liberal and supports green, as discussed in his 2015 book, he is supportive of the European Union and advocates European federalism. During the presidential election, he appealed to the centre and was endorsed by the leaders of both the conservative Austrian Peoples Party and the Social Democratic Party. Van der Bellen is the second president of a European Union country. Van der Bellen, who is known privately by the nickname Sascha, was born in Vienna, the son of Alexander Konstantin and his father was an aristocratic Russian-born banker of Baltic German, Russian German, Dutch, and Estonian descent, while his mother was Estonian. In Russia, the family was recognised as noble in the early 19th century, the surname was spelled von der Bellen in Imperial Russia, with von der being a nobiliary particle. In 1931, Van der Bellens divorced father married Estonian native Alma Siebold and he acquired naturalised Estonian citizenship in 1934. After Estonia was invaded by the Soviet Union in 1940, the fled to Germany. They eventually settled in Vienna, where Van der Bellen was born, before fleeing the approaching Red Army in 1945 and arriving in Tyrol. He has described himself as a child of refugees, for practical purposes the Van der Bellen family was stateless following the Soviet occupation of Estonia. Together with his parents Van der Bellen was granted Austrian citizenship in 1958, although his parents spoke Russian with each other, Van der Bellen only learned a few words in the language. He explained that his parents wanted to avoid everything that indicated that they were refugees, in 1962, he graduated from the Akademisches Gymnasium in Innsbruck. He studied economics at the University of Innsbruck and received a doctorate in 1970 and he obtained his habilitation in economics in 1975. In 1976, he was appointed professor at the University of Innsbruck. In 1980, he became professor of economics at the University of Vienna, subsequently, he took over the chair for economics there. From 1990 to 1994 he was dean of the faculty for social sciences, a former member of the Social Democratic Party, Van der Bellen became Member of the National Council of Austria for the Austrian Green Party in 1994. On 13 December 1997 he became their spokesperson, and in 1999 became chairman of the Greens Parliamentary Party in the National Council
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