1.
Austria
–
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
Austria
–
First appearance of the word "ostarrichi", circled in red. Modern Austria honours this document, dated 996, as the founding of the nation.
Austria
–
Flag
Austria
–
Venus of Willendorf, 28,000 to 25,000 BC.
Museum of Natural History Vienna
Austria
–
"Heidentor" – Remains of the
Roman military city of
Carnuntum
2.
Constitution of Austria
–
The Austrian Federal Constitution is the body of all constitutional law of the Republic of Austria on the federal level. It is split up over many different acts and its centerpiece is the Federal Constitutional Law, which includes the most important federal constitutional provisions. Apart from the B-VG, there are a number of other constitutional acts. For example, the B-VG does not include a bill of rights, over time, both the B-VG and the numerous pieces of constitutional law supplementing it have undergone literally hundreds of minor and major amendments and revisions. The B-VG was based on a draft by Hans Kelsen and first enacted on October 1,1920. Since political agreement over a bill of rights could not be reached, originally, the B-VG was very parliamentarian in character. The prerogative to enact law was to lie with a strong parliament. The responsibility for implementing law was to reside with a cabinet headed by a chancellor, a relatively weak president, who was elected by both houses, was to serve as head of state. In 1929, the constitution underwent a revision significantly broadening the prerogatives of the president, in particular, the president from then on was to be elected directly by the people rather than by the members of the legislature. The president was also to be vested with the authority to dissolve the parliament and he also had the authority to formally appoint the chancellor and the cabinet. Although the president was vested with powers comparable to those of the President of the United States, the Austrofascist constitution was in force until Austria was annexed by Nazi Germany in 1938, ceasing to exist as a sovereign state. The Constitution of Austria was eventually reinstated on May 1,1945, the modifications enacted in 1929 were not then rescinded, and essentially remain in effect until this day, although the constitution has been heavily modified and amended since then. In area, the Republic of Austria is slightly smaller than Maine, Scotland, or Hokkaidō and home to an ethnically and culturally homogeneous population of eight and a half million people. Given that more than one fifth of its inhabitants are concentrated in the city of Vienna and its suburbs, the state constitutions congruently define the states to be unicameral parliamentary democracies, each state has a legislature elected by popular vote and a cabinet appointed by its legislature. The federal constitution defines Austria itself as a parliamentary democracy with near-complete separation of powers. Austrias government structure is highly similar to that of incomparably larger federal republics such as Germany or the United States. This is also true for the system, which is exclusively federal in Austria. Federal legislative powers are vested with a body the constitution refers to as a parliament, as a practical matter, however, it continues to function as a parliament anyway
Constitution of Austria
–
Austria
3.
President of Austria
–
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
President of Austria
–
Incumbent
Heinz Fischer since 6 July 2004
President of Austria
–
State flag of Austria
President of Austria
–
The Leopoldine Wing of
Hofburg Imperial Palace in
Vienna: home to the offices of the Federal President.
4.
Alexander Van der Bellen
–
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
Alexander Van der Bellen
–
Alexander Van der Bellen
5.
Chancellor of Austria
–
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
Chancellor of Austria
–
Incumbent
Werner Faymann since 2 December 2008
Chancellor of Austria
–
State flag of Austria
Chancellor of Austria
–
Federal Chancellery on Ballhausplatz, former Geheime Hofkanzlei
Chancellor of Austria
–
Cabinet room in the
Austrian Chancellery.
6.
List of Chancellors of Austria
–
This is a list of Chancellors of Austria since the establishment of that office in 1918. Political Party, SDAPÖ/SPÖ CS/ÖVP VF NSDAP None The median age at which a Chancellor first takes office is roughly 53 years and 11 months, the youngest person to become Chancellor was Leopold Figl, who took office at the age of 43 years,79 days. The oldest person to become Chancellor was Karl Renner at the age of 74 years,134 days, the oldest living Chancellor is Franz Vranitzky, born 4 October 1937. The youngest living former Chancellor is Werner Faymann, born 4 May 1960, the youngest living Chancellor is the incumbent, Christian Kern, born 4 January 1966. The longest lived Chancellor was Josef Klaus, who died 26 July 2001 at the age of 90 years,345 days, Franz Vranitzky, the oldest living Chancellor, will tie Klaus if he lives to 14 September 2028. The shortest lived Chancellor was Leopold Figl, who died 9 May 1965 at the age of 62 years,219 days
List of Chancellors of Austria
7.
Vice Chancellor of Austria
–
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
Vice Chancellor of Austria
–
Incumbent
Reinhold Mitterlehner since 1 September 2014
Vice Chancellor of Austria
–
Coat of arms
8.
Reinhold Mitterlehner
–
Reinhold Mitterlehner is an Austrian politician who has served in the cabinet of Austria as Federal Minister of Economy from 2008 to date. In September 2014 he also became Vice Chancellor of Austria and Chairman of the Austrian Peoples Party, on 9 May 2016 he assumed powers and duties as Acting Chancellor of Austria. Mitterlehner was born in Helfenberg, Upper Austria, on 10 December 1955 and he holds a doctorate in law, which he received from Johannes Kepler University in Linz in 1980. He then attended a course in association management in Fribourg. From 1980 to 1992 Mitterlehner worked at the Upper Austrian economic chamber, from 1992 to 2000 he served as the secretary general of the Austrian Economic League in Vienna. In addition, he was a politician in Ahorn from 1991 to 1997. He was appointed party chairman for Rohrbach District in May 2002, meanwhile, also in 2000, Mitterlehner was named deputy secretary general of the Austrian federal economic chamber, holding that post until 2008. In 2008, he was named vice president of the Austrian Energy Agency. Mitterlehner was one of the candidates to succeed Josef Pröll. At the time, Mitterlehner said he would not to serve as finance minister as well
Reinhold Mitterlehner
–
Reinhold Mitterlehner
9.
Government of Austria
–
The Austrian Federal Government is a collective body that exercises executive power in the Republic of Austria. It is composed of the Chancellor, who is leader of the government, the Vice-Chancellor, the President and the Government together form the executive branch of Austria. The nominations of the takes place at the suggestion of the Chancellor. Likewise, the President may dismiss the Chancellor and/or the whole government at any time, however, a new government must be formed by the parties that control parliament. The government is convened for frequently scheduled meetings, when formally convened as such, the government is termed the Council of Ministers, which is equivalent to the word cabinet. Each federal minister is responsible for his or her own ministry, and may be supported by one or more state secretaries. State secretaries are not considered members of the government, and have no right to vote during cabinet meetings, the incumbent government of Austria is a grand coalition government formed by the left-wing Social Democratic Party of Austria and the right-wing Austrian Peoples Party. Most of the ministers kept their job, however, some decided to step down or were replaced, the Renner ministry was composed of representatives of the three main political parties—Social Democrats, the Christian Social Party and German Nationalists —according to the Proporz doctrine. State Chancellor Renner had signed the Treaty of Saint-Germain-en-Laye, whereafter his cabinet retired en bloc, re-elected by the Constitutional Assembly on 17 October 1919, his third cabinet finally was overturned with the break-up of the SPÖ-CS coalition on 7 July 1920. Renner was succeeded by the Christian Social politician Michael Mayr, who with the commencement of the Austria Constitution on 10 November 1920 became first Federal Chancellor of Austria. Mayr and his successors proceeded with the support of the Christian Social Party, from 5 March 1933 onwards, the Christian Social chancellor Engelbert Dollfuß kept on ruling by suppression of the National Council parliament. In the course of the Austrian Civil War he brought down the opposition and on 1 May 1934 implemented the authoritarian Federal State of Austria, all parties were banned, except for the Fatherlands Front supporting Dollfuß Austrofascist government. The Federal Government discontinued with the Anschluss incorporation of Austria into Nazi Germany on 13 March 1938, on 27 April 1945 a provisional Austrian national unity government, again under a State Chancellor Karl Renner, declared the Anschluss null and void. It prepared the The elections to the Austrian National Council held on 25 November, on 20 December 1945, the Austrian Constitution was officially re-enacted, with ÖVP founder Leopold Figl forming the first post-war Federal Government. List of cabinets since 1945, Austrian Federal Government
Government of Austria
–
Cabinet room in the
Austrian Chancellery
Government of Austria
–
Austria
10.
Landeshauptmann
–
Until 1933 the term was used in Prussia for the head of government of a province, in the modern-day states of Germany the counterpart to Landeshauptmann is here the Ministerpräsident. The Imperial-Royal government in Vienna was represented by a Statthalter or Landespräsident, the 1920 constitution of the First Austrian Republic unified the office of a Federal Government representative and head of the state government. The title is used in modern Austria as well as in South Tyrol and Trentino, autonomous provinces in Italy with strong linguistic. In the Czech Republic, a hejtman represents each of the 13 self-governing regions, the title was also used by the German Empire for governors during the early stages of its colonial rule over German South-West Africa, Togoland and German New Guinea. In modern Austria, the title is used for the head of the executive of the nine Austrian states, the Landeshauptmann is elected by the Landtag state parliament of the respective state and sworn in by the President of Austria. As representative of the state on state level he is also responsible for the enforcement of federal laws. The Mayor of Vienna also serves as a Landeshauptmann, elected by the municipal assembly, the head of government of South Tyrol is elected by the provincial Landtag legislature. The Landeshauptmann represents the province to the outside and in meetings of the regions with the Italian government and he is also entitled to attend the sessions of the Council of Ministers as far as South Tyrolean issues are discussed. His two deputies have to represent the Italian and German language group, from 1875 the territorial authority of the estates in the twelve administrative provinces of Prussia were re-organised as Provinzialverbände. Each of these bodies were represented in a Provinziallandtag assembly, whose members were delegated by the rural. The provincial administration was headed by a Landesdirektor, who was elected by the assembly for six-year terms. The holder of the office presided over the Provinzialausschuss, i. e, in the following decades, Landeshauptmann gradually replaced the earlier expression Landesdirektor in all but one of Prussias provinces. When the kingdom turned into a state in 1920, only the Landtag of Brandenburg had decided to keep the traditional expression. The head of government was given the title Landespräsident
Landeshauptmann
–
Luis Durnwalder, Landeshauptmann of South Tyrol 1989–2014
11.
Parliament of Austria
–
The Austrian Parliament is the bicameral legislature in Austria. It consists of two chambers, the National Council and the Federal Council, in specific cases, both houses convene as the Federal Assembly. The legislature meets in the Austrian Parliament Building in Vienna, the National Council is composed of 183 members elected through proportional representation in a general election. The legislative period lasts five years, elections are held if the National Council prematurely moves for its own dissolution. The National Council is the dominant house in the Austrian Parliament, the Federal Council is elected indirectly, through the provincial assemblies of the nine States of the Federal Republic, and reflects the distribution of seats in the Austrian Landtage. The states are represented in the Federal Council roughly in accordance to the size of their populations, seats are redistributed among the states following each general census, and the overall size of the chamber varies slightly as a result. The current Federal Council is composed of 61 delegates, with regard to most issues, the Federal Council only possesses a dilatory right of veto which can be overridden by the National Council. However, the Federal Council enjoys absolute veto powers over bills intended to alter the powers of either the states, the Federal Assembly is a body whose function is mostly ceremonial in nature, and consists of the members of both houses of Parliament. The Federal Assembly convenes only rarely, for instance to witness the inauguration of the Federal President and it might be noted, however, that under exceptional circumstances the Austrian constitution endows the Federal Assembly with significant responsibilities. An example of this would be its pivotal role in the impeachment of a Federal President. Both houses of Parliament, as well as the Federal Assembly, constitution of Austria Austrian Parliament Building Imperial Council Imperial Diet The Austrian Parliament - Official Homepage
Parliament of Austria
Parliament of Austria
–
Austrian Parliament Österreichisches Parlament
12.
National Council (Austria)
–
The National Council is one of the two houses of the Austrian Parliament and is frequently referred to as the lower house. The constitution endows the National Council far more power than the Federal Council, the National Council is where Austrias federal legislative authority is concentrated, for a bill to become federal law, it must be resolved upon by this chamber. Bills passed by the National Council are sent to the Federal Council for corroboration, if the Federal Council approves of the bill or simply does nothing for eight weeks, the bill has succeeded. In other words, the Federal Council does not have any power to prevent adoption of legislation. The approval of the National Council is also required for most of the prerogatives of the Federal Assembly to be exercised. For example, motions to call for a referendum aimed at having the President removed from office by the electorate, only motions to impeach the President can also be from the Federal Council. National Council elections are general elections, the nine regional electoral districts are subdivided into a total of 43 local electoral districts. Political parties submit separate ranked lists of candidates for district, regional or local. They also submit a federal-level list, votes cast are first counted within their local electoral districts. Since there are 43 local districts but 183 seats to fill, the number of votes required to win one seat is simply the number of votes divided by the number of seats assigned to the district in question. For example, if 150,000 votes are cast in a local district. If a party has scored 61,000 votes out of the 150,000 votes cast, since 60,000 votes would have been sufficient to win two seats,1000 votes are left unaccounted for by this first round of tallying. Any vote not accounted for on the level is dealt with on the regional level. Any vote not accounted for on the level either is dealt with on the federal level. The DHondt method is used to allocate any National Council seats remaining to be filled, in addition to voting for a party list, voters may express preference for one individual candidate. It is not possible, however, to vote for party X. In practice, however, Austrias President plays no role in the administration, which is left to the Chancellor and Cabinet, which are dependent on the confidence of the National Council. While the President has the authority to dissolve a hostile National Council
National Council (Austria)
National Council (Austria)
–
National Council Nationalrat
National Council (Austria)
–
Seats of the National Council
13.
Federal Council (Austria)
–
The Federal Council (German, Bundesrat is the second chamber of the Austrian Parliament, representing the nine States of Austria on federal level. As part of a bicameral legislature alongside of the National Council, the Bundesrat has its seat at the Austrian Parliament Building in Vienna, in a conclave of the former Herrenhaus chamber of the Imperial Council. Moreover in most cases a Federal Councils veto is just suspensive, meaning the National Council can override it, therefore, the decisions of the Bundesrat can only delay legislation. Since its inauguration on 10 November 1920, the deputies of Bundesrat have never achieved the status of a counterbalance in relation to the National Council, so far, the concept has been maintained as a manifestation of Austrias federal system. The Federal Council and the National Council, if in joint session, form a parliamentary body. The 61 members of the Federal Council are elected according to proportional representation by each of the Austrian states legislatures for 5- to 6-year terms, the composition of the Bundesrat therefore changes after every state election and the distribution of seats in the Austrian Landtage. The second largest faction of the particular Landtag has the right to designate at least one deputy, the number of representatives delegated by each Bundesland ranges between three and twelve, depending on its population as ascertained by a regular census, it is fixed per presidential decree. Federal Assembly Politics of Austria List of legislatures by country
Federal Council (Austria)
Federal Council (Austria)
–
Federal Council Bundesrat
14.
Federal Assembly (Austria)
–
The Federal Assembly is the name given to a formal joint session of the two houses of the bicameral Austrian Parliament, the National Council and the Federal Council. It is chaired by the presidents of the two parliamentary chambers taking turns presiding over its sessions, since 1945, the assembly has only met to swear the elected President of Austria into office. While during the pre-war First Austrian Republic, the Assembly convened to elect the Austrian president and this provision however did not become effective until 1951, when Theodor Körner became the first president directly elected by the Austrian people. Since then, the responsibility is to convene for the ceremonial swearing-in of the president. It recently met at the inauguration of Heinz Fischers second term as Austrian President on 8 July 2010, the assent of the Assembly would also be required for the presidents immunity against criminal prosecution to be withdrawn. Furthermore, it is responsible for declaring war. Neither of these powers, however, has so far been exercised
Federal Assembly (Austria)
–
Assembly hall of the former
Imperial Council House of Representatives, venue of the Federal Assembly
Federal Assembly (Austria)
–
Austria
Federal Assembly (Austria)
–
Assembly Hall of the venue of the Federal Assembly
15.
Distribution of seats in the Austrian Landtage
–
The Austrian Landtage are the unicameral legislatures of the nine Austrian states, according to the Constitution of Austria deciding in all matters unless explicitly subject of federal legislation. On federal level the Landtage are represented in the Federal Council, eight political parties are represented in the Landtage legislative assemblies. Currently the Austrian Peoples Party, the Social Democratic Party of Austria, the Freedom Party of Austria, the seats of ruling parties are in bold fonts. The state governments of Carinthia, Lower Austria and Upper Austria are formed according to the principle of proportional representation, the largest faction usually nominates the state governor
Distribution of seats in the Austrian Landtage
–
Austria
16.
Elections in Austria
–
This article provides information on elections and election results in Austria. On a federal level, there are two elections, for head of state every six years, and for the 183 seats of the National Council every five years by proportional representation. From 1945 to 1986 Austria had two parties, with a third party also winning seats in the National Council. Since 1986 there have been generally four parties, for a few years even five, at least 4% of the popular vote, or a parliamentary seat in one of the regional constituencies, is needed for representation in the National Council. In some cases, a referendum can be called on by the Austrian Parliament, in 2007, the voting age was lowered from 18 to 16 in all federal elections, following some states which had lowered it for state and local elections before that. Austrian citizens who are 16 years or older may stand at elections, additionally citizens of European Union member states with a permanent residence in Austria may vote at European Union and municipal elections. Citizens who are sentenced to more than one year of imprisonment lose their voting rights, an exception to the rule is the presidential election, where the minimum age to stand as candidate is 35. Until 2011, members of current or former ruling houses were ineligible for the office, Austrian constitution defines two types of referendums on the federal level, binding referendum and non-binding referendum. Binding referendum is mandatory, if the President should be removed from office before the end of his term, binding referendum is facultative in case of non-comprehensive changes in the Federal Constitution. Such facultative referendum is to be conducted if at least one third of the members of the National Council or the Federal Council requests it, the National Council has the power to call on a non-binding referendum on matters of great importance. Such referendum is called by majority of members of the National Council, results of such a referendum are advisory. There was one referendum in post-1945 Austria, the conscription referendum in 2013 The no option won
Elections in Austria
–
Austria
17.
Austrian legislative election, 2008
–
A legislative snap election for the National Council in Austria was held on 28 September 2008. The previous election was held on 1 October 2006, the election was caused by the withdrawal of Austrian Peoples Party leader Wilhelm Molterer from the governing grand coalition on 7 July 2008. The result of the election was seen as strong for the far-right, shortly after the election, BZÖ leader and Carinthian governor Jörg Haider died in a car accident. Leading candidates On 11 January 2007, the Gusenbauer cabinet was sworn into office, the SPÖ began to fall back in the polls almost immediately. The coalition partners also disagreed on the necessary health system reform. Following this, internal criticism within the SPÖ of Gusenbauer grew, according to the plans at that time, Gusenbauer would have remained the leading candidate in the 2010 elections. On 7 July 2008, ÖVP leader Wilhelm Molterer declared that he could not continue to work with the SPÖ, the term of the legislature was the third-shortest in Austrian history. Another change was that different list names in the different states were no longer possible, postal balloting was expected to make up 7%–8% of the total vote, due to postal votes, the final result of the election would not be known until a week after the elections. 9. 27% of the voters had requested postal ballots, which meant that postal ballots could decisively change the election outcome, another part of the 2007 electoral reform was that it was now possible to accommodate election observers in the election process. -Ing. Karlheinz Klement The previous records had been achieved in the 1994 election, analysts agreed that apart from LIF and FRITZ, all others would fail to enter parliament. Following the announcement that Haider would return to politics, analysts held different opinions on the likely effects of this change. The race for third place between the Greens and the FPÖ was seen to be balanced or slightly in favour of the Greens, stadler confirmed that this was the goal of the BZÖ. Strache explicitly ruled out such an alliance on 7 September 2008, the FPÖ was seen as strongly increasing their share of the votes when compared to the 2006 election and the BZÖ was seen as having secured its stay in the National Council. The Greens were seen to be stagnating, while the parties faced difficulties with entering parliament, with the chances of LIF. Only four possible coalitions were seen as likely to have a majority after the election, SPÖ–ÖVP, ÖVP–FPÖ–BZÖ, SPÖ–GRÜNE–BZÖ and SPÖ–FPÖ–BZÖ, all, for the first time in the history of Austrian elections, there were different ballots in all nine states. The ballots featured parliamentary parties in the order of votes received in the last election, i. e. SPÖ, ÖVP, Greens, FPÖ. The longest ballots could be found in Carinthia and Vienna, which broke the record of eleven lists with twelve lists. Burgenland, Salzburg, Tyrol and Upper Austria had eleven lists, National candidate lists had to be submitted by 8 September 2008 and were published on [12 September 2008 in the Wiener Zeitung, all lists except STARK and Klement submitted national candidate lists
Austrian legislative election, 2008
–
All 183 seats in the
National Council 92 seats needed for a majority
Austrian legislative election, 2008
–
Austrian legislative election, 2008
Austrian legislative election, 2008
Austrian legislative election, 2008
18.
Austrian legislative election, 2013
–
Legislative elections were held in Austria on 29 September 2013. All 183 seats in the National Council will be filled, with MPs elected by party-list proportional representation, the government is a grand coalition between Austrias two largest parties, the SPÖ and ÖVP, who rule with the SPÖs Werner Faymann as Chancellor. Support for both governing parties has fallen marginally since the 2008 election, additionally, nine of the BZÖs 21 elected members to the National Council changed their party affiliation during the term, five members joined the Team Stronach, while four joined the FPÖ. Team Stronach, funded by Austrian-Canadian businessman Frank Stronach, has emerged as an anti-euro alternative, the Greens have solidified their position as the fourth-largest party in opinion polls.600 valid signatures from eligible voters ahead of the election. Parties can also contest the election in individual states only, the state and federal election commissions will validate the signatures and announce the qualified parties on August 8. Issues included corruption scandals across the main parties and Austrias relative financial stability facing a probable crisis, the losses for the government parties resulted in strong gains for the far right, the election was seen as strong for the far-right and in support of Eurosceptics. In contrast, the former leading party BZÖ came fifth, with their share falling from 38. 5% to 10. 8%. However, in Styria the FPÖ came first with 24. 0%, in the other states no major changes of the leading party occurred. The grand coalition of SPÖ and ÖVP have retained their majority, while the SPÖ are keen to renew the coalition, the ÖVP are also considering the possibility of a coalition with the FPÖ and another smaller party. On October 14, the SPÖ and the ÖVP agreed to start talks with each other. On December 16, the second Faymann cabinet was formed
Austrian legislative election, 2013
–
All 183 seats in the
National Council 92 seats needed for a majority
Austrian legislative election, 2013
Austrian legislative election, 2013
Austrian legislative election, 2013
19.
Austrian presidential election, 2004
–
Presidential elections were held in Austria on 25 April 2004. While the post of President of Austria is a ceremonial one. The victorious candidate was Heinz Fischer of the opposition Social Democratic Party of Austria and he defeated Benita Ferrero-Waldner, foreign minister in the ruling conservative coalition led by the Austrian Peoples Party. The turnout of slightly above 70% of registered voters was considered low by Austrian standards, in the 2002 parliamentary elections the conservative parties received 52 percent of the votes, compared to 46 percent for the SPÖ and the Greens. In this election, however, many conservative voters stayed at home, the campaign started in January 2004 with the announcements of Ferrero-Waldner and Fischer that they would run. A notable exception was Franz Fiedler, head of the National Audit Office, in late February he announced that he was considering a candidacy, and that he had the support of important but unnamed politicians. Conventional wisdom held that he had no chance of getting a majority, but since his financial supporters were unwilling to reveal their names, he decided not to run. The first complaint before the panel was brought by the SPÖ, the panel decided that this was not fair according to community standards, but not specifically forbidden by the Fairness Pact. Both parties hailed this decision as a victory for their own side, later, both sides complained that the other side had given out presents of tangible value at rallies, the panel refused to consider these claims. Fischers campaign praised their candidates experience as President of the Parliament, his expertise in constitutional law, ferreros campaign suggested that as a dedicated socialist Fischer might not always show the neutrality required from a Federal President. Ferreros campaign pointed to her connections, her language abilities. In the beginning of the campaign, polls suggested a 15% lead for Fischer, during the campaign Ferrero narrowed the margin, Austrian Ministry of Interior, results https, //web. archive. org/web/20040417104918/http, //www. benita-ferrero-waldner. at, 80/ http, //www. heinzfischer. at/
Austrian presidential election, 2004
–
Nominee
Austrian presidential election, 2004
–
Austria
Austrian presidential election, 2004
20.
Austrian presidential election, 2010
–
The Austrian presidential election took place on 25 April 2010. It was the election of an Austrian head of state since 1951. The candidates were President Heinz Fischer, Barbara Rosenkranz and Rudolf Gehring, Heinz Fischer won with just under 80% of the valid votes. The turnout was on the low of about 54%. Incumbent President Heinz Fischer announced on 23 November 2009 that he seek a second term. According to a 27 June 2009, Gallup poll for the newspaper Österreich, there were rumours that the candidate of the Austrian Peoples Party would be either Governor of Lower Austria Erwin Pröll or president of the Austrian Federal Economic Chamber Christoph Leitl. On 13 October 2009 Pröll announced that he would not run for the Presidency, Leitl and former governor of Styria Waltraud Klasnic also declined a presidential run. On 25 February 2010, the Peoples Party announced that it would not nominate a candidate, the Freedom Party announced in June 2009 that it would definitely field a candidate to prevent Fischer. Possible candidates mentioned included Martin Graf, Norbert Steger, Siegfried Dillersberger, Norbert Gugerbauer, Dieter Böhmdorfer, after the Carinthian branch of the Alliance for the Future of Austria broke away to re-unite with the Freedom Party, it was rumoured that Barbara Rosenkranz would be their candidate. In early January 2010, Heinz-Christian Strache, leader of the Freedom Party, on 28 February 2010, Strache announced in the Kronen Zeitung that the Freedom Party would nominate Barbara Rosenkranz as its presidential candidate. On 17 August, Haider announced that she would not run for president, on 26 February 2010, Bucher said that he might run as a candidate for his party, because he could appeal to voters. On 1 March 2010, the Alliance announced that Bucher would not stand as a candidate, as the odds were clearly against him and they did not want to waste taxpayers money. It was expected that former Green Party leader Alexander Van der Bellen might stand in the election, in June 2009, however, Green party leader Eva Glawischnig stated that the Greens were considering fielding a candidate, and that Van der Bellen would be a very good candidate. By November 2009, there was no clear decision from the Greens. On 25 February 2010, the Greens announced they wanted to concentrate on state elections, the Christian Party nominated its chairman Rudolf Gehring as a presidential candidate. On 25 March 2010, they announced they had gathered the necessary signatures to run for president. A former judge from eastern Styria, Martin Wabl, who had previously tried to run for president. Bernhard Gregor Honemann also planned to run, none of these candidates obtained the 6000 signatures necessary to run for president
Austrian presidential election, 2010
–
Candidate
Austrian presidential election, 2010
–
Austria
Austrian presidential election, 2010
Austrian presidential election, 2010
21.
European Parliament election, 2014 (Austria)
–
The 2014 European Parliament election was held on 25 May 2014 in Austria. As a result of the Lisbon Treaty Austria held 19 seats in the European Parliament, three Members of the European Parliament decided to stand in the election again, but not for their original parties. They are Martin Ehrenhauser, Ewald Stadler and Angelika Werthmann, Ehrenhauser is now top candidate for the left-wing electoral alliance Europe Different, which includes the Communists and the Pirate Party. Stadler founded the eurosceptic Reform Conservatives, who intend to join the Europe of Freedom and she withdrew her NEOS-candidacy for the 2014 European election in January 2014. The Alliance for the Future of Austria initially planned to field Ulrike Haider-Quercia, daughter of the party founder Jörg Haider. She withdrew on 8 April, complaining that the party would not accept her independent policy, instead of her, the BZÖs new top candidate is Angelika Werthmann. She was also excluded from the liberal ALDE group in the European Parliament after joining the BZÖ, the new liberal party NEOS is contesting the election. Angelika Mlinar was elected as its top candidate after its caucus in February 2014, team Stronach, another successful new party in the 2013 national election, announced on 8 April 2014 that they would not contest the election. On 25 March 2014 MEP Hans-Peter Martin, the leader of Hans-Peter Martins List, a small party called EU-STOP also managed to collect the 2600 signatures necessary to be included on the election ballot. Their main goal is Austrias exit from the EU resulting in a neutral and self-determined country. There were 9 parties contesting the election,3,322,498 women and 3,088,104 men were eligible to vote. Included in these totals are 34,773 Austrians living abroad and 33,184 foreign EU-citizens living in Austria, poll opening and closing times on election day were set individually by each municipality. Poll closing times can be no later than 5pm, voters who so chose were allowed to cast their vote either by absentee ballot or postal ballot. Postal ballots had to arrive at the voting commission no later than 5pm on election day. Before the 2009 election,309,200 voters requested absentee or postal ballots, for the 2014 election, the number was 444,057
European Parliament election, 2014 (Austria)
–
All 18 Austrian seats to the
European Parliament
European Parliament election, 2014 (Austria)
European Parliament election, 2014 (Austria)
European Parliament election, 2014 (Austria)
22.
List of political parties in Austria
–
This article lists political parties in Austria. Of the over 700 registered political parties, only few are known to the larger public, since the 1980s, four parties have consistently received enough votes to get seats in the national parliament. There are six parties represented in the National Council, five of the parties in the National Council are also represented in the Federal Council. Five of the six parties in the National Council are represented in the European Parliament, changing Patterns of Party Competition in Austria, From Multipolar to Bipolar System
List of political parties in Austria
–
Austria
23.
States of Austria
–
Austria is a federal republic made up of nine states, known in German as Länder. Since Land is also the German word for country, the term Bundesländer is often used instead to avoid ambiguity, the Constitution of Austria uses both terms. In English, the land is commonly rendered as state or province. The other five states, in contrast, are located in the Alps and their terrain is also relatively unfavourable to heavy industry and long-distance trade. Accordingly, the population of what now is the Republic of Austria has been concentrated in the four states since prehistoric times. Austrias most densely populated state is the city-state of Vienna, the heart of what is Austrias only metropolitan area, Lower Austria ranks fourth with regard to population density even though containing Viennas suburbs, this is due to large areas of land being predominantly agricultural. The wealthy alpine state of Vorarlberg is something of a due to its small size, isolated location. The following ranked list of Austrian states cites official Statistik Austria population on 1 January 2015, areas are given in square kilometres, population density is expressed in inhabitants per square kilometre. For the purpose of the above list, a city is a community defined to be a city by Austrian law, many of Austrias cities have population figures on the order of ten thousand inhabitants, some are even smaller. Elections are held five years. The Landeshauptmann is always elected by the Landtag, meaning that it may be necessary to form a coalition in order to secure the election of a particular candidate. Vienna, the capital of Austria, plays a role as city and Bundesland, meaning that the mayor serves as governor. Austrian federalism is largely theoretical as the states are granted few legislative powers, there is also no judiciary of the Länder, since the federal constitution defines the judiciary as an exclusively federal matter. This centralisation follows a model where central power during the time of the empire was largely concentrated in Vienna. However, the governor is in charge of the administration of much of federal administrative law within the respective state. Furthermore, state competences include zoning laws, planning issues and public procurement on the regional level, Austrian Länder are endowed formally and practically with a much smaller degree of autonomy than American or German states. Even so, Austrians tend to identify passionately with their respective Land and it is not unheard of for Austrians to consider themselves, for instance, Tyrolean first, Austrian second. Salzburg is coterminous with the former Austro-Hungarian Duchy of Salzburg, also, the state of Vorarlberg had been a semi-autonomous part of the County of Tyrol since 1861
States of Austria
–
Austria
24.
District (Austria)
–
In Austrian politics, a district is a second-level division of the executive arm of the countrys government. e. District administrative authorities that only exist as a role filled by something that primarily is a city. As of 2015, there are 95 districts,80 districts headed by district commissions and 15 statutory cities, many districts are geographically congruent with one of the countrys 116 judicial venues. Statutory cities are not usually referred to as districts outside of government publications, a district headed by a district commission typically covers somewhere between ten and thirty municipalities. As a purely administrative unit, a district does not hold elections, the district governor is appointed by the provincial governor, the district civil servants are province employees. In the provincial laws of Lower Austria and Vorarlberg, districts headed by district commissions are called administrative districts, in Burgenland, Carinthia, Salzburg, Styria, Upper Austria, and Tyrol, the term used is political district. National law, including constitutional law, uses all three variants interchangeably. A statutory city is a city vested with both municipal and district administrative responsibility, town hall personnel also serves as district personnel, the mayor also discharges the powers and duties of a head of district commission. City management thus functions both as a government and a branch of the national government at the same time. Most of the 15 statutory cities are major population centers with residents numbering in the tens of thousands. The last community to have invoked this right is Wels, a city since 1964. As of 2014, ten other communities are eligible but not interested, the statutory city of Vienna, a community with well over 1.7 million residents, is divided into 23 municipal districts. Despite the similar name and the role they fill, municipal districts have a different legal basis than districts. The statutory cities of Graz and Klagenfurt also have referred to as municipal districts. Austria strictly speaking does not name districts but district administrative authorities, the German term for district commission and city, Bezirkshauptmannschaft and Stadt, respectively, is part of the official proper name of each such entity. This means that there can be pairs of districts whose two proper names contain the same toponym, several such pairs do in fact exist. There are, for example, two district administrative authorities sharing the toponym Innsbruck, the city of Innsbruck and the Innsbruck district commission. To avoid confusion, the names of the districts in these pairs are commonly rendered with the suffix -Land
District (Austria)
–
Voitsberg District district border sign
25.
Foreign relations of Austria
–
The 1955 Austrian State Treaty ended the four-power occupation and recognized Austria as an independent and sovereign state. In October 1955, the Federal Assembly passed a law in which Austria declares of her own free will her perpetual neutrality. The second section of this law stated that in all future times Austria will not join any military alliances, since then, Austria has shaped its foreign policy on the basis of neutrality. Also in 1995, it joined the Partnership for Peace, discussion of possible Austrian NATO membership intensified during 1996. ÖVP and the Team Stronach aim at moving closer to NATO or a European defense arrangement, SPÖ and FPÖ, in turn, believe continued neutrality is the cornerstone of Austrias foreign policy, and a majority of the population generally supports this stance. In February 2000, Austrias foreign relations cooled down when the ÖVP formed a coalition with the FPÖ after the 1999 election, European governments imposed diplomatic sanctions, and the United States called home its ambassador. The diplomatic sanctions were lifted in September 2000, after a three-member panel assessed human rights, in November 2000, the United States and Austria normalized their relations. Austrian leaders emphasize the role the country plays as an East-West hub. Austria is active in the United Nations and experienced in UN peacekeeping efforts, recently, Vienna added the preparatory commission for the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty Organization and the Wassenaar Arrangement to the list of international organizations it hosts. Austria traditionally has been active in bridge-building to the east, increasing contacts at all levels with Eastern Europe, austrians maintain a constant exchange of business representatives, political leaders, students, cultural groups, and tourists with the countries of central and eastern Europe. Austrian companies are active in investing and trading with the countries of central, in addition, the Austrian Government and various Austrian organizations provide assistance and training to support the changes underway in the region. Austria maintains significant bilateral relations with several countries, List of diplomatic missions in Austria List of diplomatic missions of Austria Federal Ministry for European and International Affairs Visa requirements for Austrian citizens Horn, David Bayne. Great Britain and Europe in the eighteenth century covers 1603-1702, pp 111-43 and this article incorporates public domain material from the United States Department of State website http, //www. state. gov/r/pa/ei/bgn/index. htm
Foreign relations of Austria
–
Austria
26.
Parliamentary system
–
In a parliamentary system, the head of state is usually a different person from the head of government. Since ancient times, when societies were tribal, there were councils or a headman whose decisions were assessed by village elders, eventually these councils have slowly evolved into the modern Parliamentary system. The first parliaments date back to Europe in the Middle Ages, for example in 1188 Alfonso IX, the modern concept of parliamentary government emerged in the Kingdom of Great Britain and its contemporary, the Parliamentary System in Sweden. In England, Simon de Montfort is remembered as one of the fathers of representative government for holding two famous parliaments, the first, in 1258, stripped the King of unlimited authority and the second, in 1265, included ordinary citizens from the towns. Later, in the 17th century, the Parliament of England pioneered some of the ideas and systems of liberal democracy culminating in the Glorious Revolution, in the Kingdom of Great Britain, the monarch, in theory, chaired cabinet and chose ministers. In practice, King George Is inability to speak English led the responsibility for chairing cabinet to go to the minister, literally the prime or first minister. By the nineteenth century, the Great Reform Act of 1832 led to parliamentary dominance, with its choice invariably deciding who was prime minister, hence the use of phrases like Her Majestys government or His Excellencys government. Nineteenth century urbanisation, industrial revolution and, modernism had already fueled the political struggle for democracy. In the radicalised times at the end of World War I, a parliamentary system may be either bicameral, with two chambers of parliament or unicameral, with just one parliamentary chamber. Scholars of democracy such as Arend Lijphart distinguish two types of parliamentary democracies, the Westminster and Consensus systems, the Westminster system is usually found in the Commonwealth of Nations and countries which were influenced by the British political tradition. These parliaments tend to have a more style of debate. The Australian House of Representatives is elected using instant-runoff voting, while the Senate is elected using proportional representation through single transferable vote, regardless of which system is used, the voting systems tend to allow the voter to vote for a named candidate rather than a closed list. The Western European parliamentary model tends to have a more consensual debating system, Consensus systems have more of a tendency to use proportional representation with open party lists than the Westminster Model legislatures. The committees of these Parliaments tend to be more important than the plenary chamber, some West European countries parliaments implement the principle of dualism as a form of separation of powers. In countries using this system, Members of Parliament have to resign their place in Parliament upon being appointed minister, ministers in those countries usually actively participate in parliamentary debates, but are not entitled to vote. Some countries such as India also require the prime minister to be a member of the legislature, the head of state appoints a prime minister who will likely have majority support in parliament. The head of state appoints a minister who must gain a vote of confidence within a set time. The head of state appoints the leader of the party holding a plurality of seats in parliament as prime minister
Parliamentary system
–
The
Palace of Westminster in
London,
United Kingdom. The
Westminster system originates from the
British Houses of Parliament.
Parliamentary system
Parliamentary system
–
Statue of President
Nelson Mandela of
South Africa in
Parliament Square,
London
Parliamentary system
–
Parliament of Canada
27.
Republic
–
It is a government where the head of state is not a monarch. Both modern and ancient republics vary widely in their ideology, composition, in the classical and medieval period of Europe, many states were fashioned on the Roman Republic, which referred to the governance of the city of Rome, between it having kings and emperors. The Italian medieval and Renaissance political tradition, today referred to as humanism, is sometimes considered to derive directly from Roman republicans such as Sallust. Republics were not equated with classical democracies such as Athens, but had a democratic aspect, Republics became more common in the Western world starting in the late 18th century, eventually displacing absolute monarchy as the most common form of government in Europe. In modern republics, the executive is legitimized both by a constitution and by popular suffrage, for instance, Article IV of the United States Constitution guarantee to every State in this Union a Republican form of Government. The term originates as the Latin translation of Greek word politeia, cicero, among other Latin writers, translated politeia as res publica and it was in turn translated by Renaissance scholars as republic. The term politeia can be translated as form of government, polity, or regime, and is therefore not always a word for a specific type of regime as the modern word republic is. And also amongst classical Latin, the term republic can be used in a way to refer to any regime. In medieval Northern Italy, a number of city states had commune or signoria based governments, in the late Middle Ages, writers, such as Giovanni Villani, began writing about the nature of these states and the differences from other types of regime. They used terms such as libertas populi, a free people, the terminology changed in the 15th century as the renewed interest in the writings of Ancient Rome caused writers to prefer using classical terminology. To describe non-monarchical states writers, most importantly Leonardo Bruni, adopted the Latin phrase res publica. While Bruni and Machiavelli used the term to describe the states of Northern Italy, which were not monarchies, the term can quite literally be translated as public matter. It was most often used by Roman writers to refer to the state and government, in subsequent centuries, the English word commonwealth came to be used as a translation of res publica, and its use in English was comparable to how the Romans used the term res publica. Notably, during The Protectorate of Oliver Cromwell the word commonwealth was the most common term to call the new monarchless state, likewise, in Polish, the term was translated as rzeczpospolita, although the translation is now only used with respect to Poland. Presently, the term republic commonly means a system of government which derives its power from the rather than from another basis. After the classical period, during the Middle Ages, many cities developed again. The modern type of itself is different from any type of state found in the classical world. Nevertheless, there are a number of states of the era that are today still called republics
Republic
–
Vaishali was the
capital of the
Vajjian Confederacy, an early republic.
Republic
–
A map of the
Roman Republic
Republic
–
Giovanni Battista Tiepolo,
Neptune offers the wealth of the sea to Venice, 1748–50. This painting is an allegory of the power of the Republic of
Venice.
Republic
–
Beginning of the Republic of
Metz. Election of the first Head-Alderman in 1289, by Auguste Migette.
Metz was then a
free imperial city of the
Holy Roman Emperor.
28.
Legislative power
–
A legislature is a deliberative assembly with the authority to make laws for a political entity such as a country or city. Legislatures form important parts of most governments, in the separation of model, they are often contrasted with the executive. Laws enacted by legislatures are known as legislation, legislatures observe and steer governing actions and usually have exclusive authority to amend the budget or budgets involved in the process. The members of a legislature are called legislators, each chamber of legislature consists of a number of legislators who use some form of parliamentary procedure to debate political issues and vote on proposed legislation. There must be a number of legislators present to carry out these activities. Some of the responsibilities of a legislature, such as giving first consideration to newly proposed legislation, are delegated to committees made up of small selections of the legislators. The members of a legislature usually represent different political parties, the members from each party generally meet as a caucus to organize their internal affairs, the internal organization of a legislature is also shaped by the informal norms that are shared by its members. Legislatures vary widely in the amount of power they wield, compared to other political players such as judiciaries, militaries. In 2009, political scientists M. Steven Fish and Matthew Kroenig constructed a Parliamentary Powers Index in an attempt to quantify the different degrees of power among national legislatures, such a system renders the legislature more powerful. Legislatures will sometime delegate their legislative power to administrative or executive agencies, legislatures are made up of individual members, known as legislators, who vote on proposed laws. For example, a legislature that has 100 seats has 100 members, by extension, an electoral district that elects a single legislator can also be described as a seat, as, for, example, in the phrases safe seat and marginal seat. In parliamentary systems of government, the executive is responsible to the legislature which may remove it with a vote of no confidence, names for national legislatures include parliament, congress, diet and assembly. A legislature which operates as a unit is unicameral, one divided into two chambers is bicameral, and one divided into three chambers is tricameral. In bicameral legislatures, one chamber is considered the upper house. In federations, the upper house typically represents the component states. This is a case with the legislature of the European Union. Tricameral legislatures are rare, the Massachusetts Governors Council still exists, tetracameral legislatures no longer exist, but they were previously used in Scandinavia. Legislatures vary widely in their size, among national legislatures, Chinas National Peoples Congress is the largest with 2987 members, while Vatican Citys Pontifical Commission is the smallest with 7
Legislative power
–
The
Congress of the Republic of Peru, the country's national legislature, meets in the
Legislative Palace in 2010.
29.
Government
–
A government is the system by which a state or community is controlled. In the case of this broad definition, government normally consists of legislators, administrators. Government is the means by which state policy is enforced, as well as the mechanism for determining the policy of the state. Forms of government, or forms of governance, refers to the set of political systems. Governments control the economy, social freedoms, and political systems and this usage is analogous to what is called an administration in American English. Finally, government is sometimes used in English as a synonym for governance. In addition to the political meanings, in grammar and theoretical linguistics
Government
–
presidential republics
30.
Social Democratic Party of Austria
–
The Social Democratic Party of Austria is a social-democratic political party in Austria. The SPÖ has ties to the Austrian Trade Union Federation and the Austrian Chamber of Labour, Socialist and workers movements and associations had already started to form in Austria by the mid-19th century. The partys first meeting place in 1874 in Neudörfl in what later became Burgenland. The following years saw factional infighting, and the party split into moderate and it was united in 1889 as the Social Democratic Workers Party of Austria through the work of Doctor Victor Adler. At the party congress in Hainfeld, the party decided to accept Adlers Declaration of Principles on 30 December 1888,1 January 1889 is therefore considered the partys founding date. On 12 July 1889 the first issue of the party newspaper the Arbeiter-Zeitung was printed, initially close to Marxism, the party continued to grow especially in Vienna and the industrial areas of Bohemia, Moravia, Styria, Lower Austria and Upper Austria. The party participated in the founding of the Second International in Paris on 14 July 1889, the party campaigned for more rights for workers, including their right to vote. In the Brünner Programm of September 1899, the Socialists demanded that the Austro-Hungarian Empire be reformed into a democratic state. The Social Democrats were allowed to run in the City Council elections of Vienna on 30 May 1890, in Trieste the Italian-speaking Social Democratic League decided at its congress in December 1897 to change its name to Adriatic Italian Section of the Social Democratic Workers Party of Austria. Notably, the Trieste Socialists preferred to use the label socialist rather than social democrat, in 1907, after a general strike, universal suffrage was granted. In the elections to the House of Deputies in the Reichsrat, out of a total of 516 seats, the party won 87 seats, becoming the second strongest fraction in parliament after the Christian Social Party. Eventually, by 1911, the Socialists became the strongest party in parliament, after the death of Emperor Franz Joseph, the first peace-meeting was held in December 1916. By January 1918, strikes were breaking out, calling for an end of the war, the Social Democrats wanted a new form of government and, on 12 November 1918, the republic was proclaimed by Renner. Renners government introduced an eight-hour workday and paid holidays, the party had moderate success in the 1920s, but its conflict with right wing forces escalated until it was defeated in the Austrian Civil War. The first republic was founded on principles from Machiavellis The Prince. The SDAPÖ played an important role in the establishment of the First Republic, on November 11,1918, Emperor Charles I relinquished his right to take part in Austrian affairs of state. The following day Karl Renner was declared Chancellor of the Republic of German-Austria, the party clearly wanted to steer Austria towards political union with Germany, calling the new Austrian republic Deutsch-Österreich. But the Treaty of St. Germain clearly forbade any unification between Austria and Germany, the SDAPÖ nevertheless still advocated such a union during the existence of the First Republic, as they hoped for a strengthening of their position and the socialist cause within a Greater Germany
Social Democratic Party of Austria
–
SPÖ party headquarters in Vienna
Social Democratic Party of Austria
–
Social Democratic Party of Austria Sozialdemokratische Partei Österreichs
Social Democratic Party of Austria
–
SPÖ poster for the 2006 general elections; "The country needs a new fairness."
31.
Nation state
–
A state is specifically a political and geopolitical entity, whilst a nation is a cultural and ethnic one. The term nation state implies that the two coincide, in that a state has chosen to adopt and endorse a specific cultural group as associated with it. The concept of a state can be compared and contrasted with that of the multinational state, city state, empire, confederation. The key distinction is the identification of a people with a polity in the nation state, the origins and early history of nation states are disputed. A major theoretical question is, Which came first, the nation or the nation state and it was with these intellectual discoveries and technological advances that the nation state arose. For others, the nation existed first, then nationalist movements arose for sovereignty, some modernization theories of nationalism see it as a product of government policies to unify and modernize an already existing state. Most theories see the state as a 19th-century European phenomenon, facilitated by developments such as state-mandated education, mass literacy. However, historians note the early emergence of a relatively unified state and identity in Portugal. In France, Eric Hobsbawm argues, the French state preceded the formation of the French people, Hobsbawm considers that the state made the French nation, not French nationalism, which emerged at the end of the 19th century, the time of the Dreyfus Affair. At the time of the 1789 French Revolution, only half of the French people spoke some French, during the Italian unification, the number of people speaking the Italian language was even lower. The French state promoted the unification of various dialects and languages into the French language, the introduction of conscription and the Third Republics 1880s laws on public instruction, facilitated the creation of a national identity, under this theory. Some nation states, such as Germany and Italy, came into existence at least partly as a result of campaigns by nationalists. In both cases, the territory was divided among other states, some of them very small. The sense of identity was at first a cultural movement, such as in the Völkisch movement in German-speaking states. In these cases, the nationalist sentiment and the nationalist movement clearly precede the unification of the German and Italian nation states, some authors deconstruct the distinction between ethnic nationalism and civic nationalism because of the ambiguity of the concepts. They argue that the case of Ernest Renan is an idealisation and it should be interpreted within the German tradition. For example, they argue that the used by Renan at the conference What is a nation. Are not consistent with his thinking and this alleged civic conception of the nation would be determined only by the case of the loss gives Alsace and Lorraine in the Franco-Prussian War
Nation state
–
Portrait of "The Ratification of the Treaty of Münster", one of the treaties leading to the
Peace of Westphalia, where the concept of the "nation state" was born.
Nation state
–
Dark yellow: 85% or more are from majority ethnicity
Nation state
–
Ainu, an
ethnic minority people from
Japan (between 1863 and early 1870s).
32.
Austria-Hungary
–
The union was a result of the Austro-Hungarian Compromise of 1867 and came into existence on 30 March 1867. Austria-Hungary consisted of two monarchies, and one region, the Kingdom of Croatia-Slavonia under the Hungarian crown. It was ruled by the House of Habsburg, and constituted the last phase in the evolution of the Habsburg Monarchy. Following the 1867 reforms, the Austrian and the Hungarian states were co-equal, Foreign affairs and the military came under joint oversight, but all other governmental faculties were divided between respective states. Austria-Hungary was a state and one of the worlds great powers at the time. Austria-Hungary was geographically the second-largest country in Europe after the Russian Empire, at 621,538 km2, the Empire built up the fourth-largest machine building industry of the world, after the United States, Germany, and the United Kingdom. After 1878, Bosnia and Herzegovina was under Austro-Hungarian military and civilian rule until it was annexed in 1908. The annexation of Bosnia also led to Islam being recognized as a state religion due to Bosnias Muslim population. Austria-Hungary was one of the Central Powers in World War I and it was already effectively dissolved by the time the military authorities signed the armistice of Villa Giusti on 3 November 1918. The realms full, official name was The Kingdoms and Lands Represented in the Imperial Council, each enjoyed considerable sovereignty with only a few joint affairs. Certain regions, such as Polish Galicia within Cisleithania and Croatia within Transleithania, enjoyed autonomous status, the division between Austria and Hungary was so marked that there was no common citizenship, one was either an Austrian citizen or a Hungarian citizen, never both. This also meant that there were always separate Austrian and Hungarian passports, however, neither Austrian nor Hungarian passports were used in the Kingdom of Croatia-Slavonia-Dalmatia. Instead, the Kingdom issued its own passports which were written in Croatian and French and it is not known what kind of passports were used in Bosnia-Herzegovina, which was under the control of both Austria and Hungary. The Kingdom of Hungary had always maintained a separate parliament, the Diet of Hungary, the administration and government of the Kingdom of Hungary remained largely untouched by the government structure of the overarching Austrian Empire. Hungarys central government structures remained well separated from the Austrian imperial government, the country was governed by the Council of Lieutenancy of Hungary – located in Pressburg and later in Pest – and by the Hungarian Royal Court Chancellery in Vienna. The Hungarian government and Hungarian parliament were suspended after the Hungarian revolution of 1848, despite Austria and Hungary sharing a common currency, they were fiscally sovereign and independent entities. Since the beginnings of the union, the government of the Kingdom of Hungary could preserve its separated. After the revolution of 1848–1849, the Hungarian budget was amalgamated with the Austrian, from 1527 to 1851, the Kingdom of Hungary maintained its own customs controls, which separated her from the other parts of the Habsburg-ruled territories
Austria-Hungary
–
Franz Joseph I. (1885)
Austria-Hungary
–
Civil Ensign
Austria-Hungary
–
Austrian Parliament Building
Austria-Hungary
–
Hungarian Parliament Building
33.
Empire
–
An empire can be made solely of contiguous territories such as the Austro-Hungarian Empire, or of territories far remote from the homeland, such as a colonial empire. Aside from the formal usage, the term empire can also be used to refer to a large-scale business enterprise. The term empire is associated with words such as imperialism, colonialism. Empire is often used to describe a displeasure to overpowering situations, the former method provides greater tribute and direct political control, yet limits further expansion because it absorbs military forces to fixed garrisons. The latter method provides less tribute and indirect control, but avails military forces for further expansion, territorial empires tend to be contiguous areas. The term, on occasion, has applied to maritime empires or thalassocracies, with looser structures. Empires are usually larger than kingdoms and this aspiration to universality resulted in conquest by converting ‘outsiders’ or ‘inferiors’ into the colonialized religion. This association of nationality and race became complex and has had an intense drive for expansion. An empire is a multi-ethnic or multinational state with political and/or military dominion of populations who are culturally and ethnically distinct from the ethnic group. This is in contrast to a federation, which is a state voluntarily composed of autonomous states and peoples. An empire is a political party who rules over territories outside of its original borders. Definitions of what physically and politically constitute an empire vary and it might be a state affecting imperial policies or a particular political structure. Empires are typically formed from ethnic, national, cultural. Empire and colonialism are used to refer to relationships between powerful state or society versus a less powerful one, sometimes, an empire is a semantic construction, such as when a ruler assumes the title of emperor. That rulers nation logically becomes an empire, despite having no additional territory or hegemony, among the last of the empires in the 20th century were the Central African Empire, Ethiopia, Vietnam, Manchukuo, the German Empire, and Korea. Furthermore, empires can expand by both land and sea, Empires originated as different types of states, although they commonly began as powerful monarchies. Ideas about empires have changed over time, ranging from public approval to universal distaste, Empires are built out of separate units with some kind of diversity – ethnic, national, cultural, religious – and imply at least some inequality between the rulers and the ruled. Without this inequality, the system would be seen as commonwealth, many empires were the result of military conquest, incorporating the vanquished states into a political union, but imperial hegemony can be established in other ways
Empire
–
Maurya Empire of
India at its greatest extent under
Ashoka the Great
Empire
–
Imperialism and colonization in 1900
Empire
–
Han Empire of China in 87 BC.
Empire
–
In the year 1690, the
realms of the
Mughal Empire spanned from
Kabul to
Cape Comorin.
34.
Constitutional monarchy
–
A constitutional monarchy is a form of monarchy in which the sovereign exercises their authorities in accordance with a written or unwritten constitution. A constitutional monarchy may refer to a system in which the acts as a non-party political head of state under the constitution. Political scientist Vernon Bogdanor, paraphrasing Thomas Macaulay, has defined a constitutional monarch as a sovereign who reigns, in addition to acting as a visible symbol of national unity, a constitutional monarch may hold formal powers such as dissolving parliament or giving royal assent to legislation. Many constitutional monarchies still retain significant authorities or political influence however, such as through certain reserve powers, the United Kingdom and the other Commonwealth realms are all constitutional monarchies in the Westminster tradition of constitutional governance. Three states – Malaysia, Cambodia and the Holy See – are elective monarchies, the oldest constitutional monarchy dating back to ancient times was that of the Hittites. These were scattered noble families that worked as representatives of their subjects in an adjutant or subaltern federal-type landscape, the most recent country to move from an absolute monarchy to a constitutional monarchy was Bhutan, between 2007 and 2008. At the same time, in Scotland the Convention of Estates enacted the Claim of Right Act 1689, although Queen Anne was the last monarch to veto an Act of Parliament when in 1707 she blocked the Scottish Militia Bill, Hanoverian monarchs continued to selectively dictate government policies. For instance George III constantly blocked Catholic Emancipation, eventually precipitating the resignation of William Pitt the Younger as Prime Minister in 1801, Queen Victoria was the last monarch to exercise real personal power but this diminished over the course of her reign. In 1839 she became the last sovereign to keep a Prime Minister in power against the will of Parliament when the Bedchamber crisis resulted in the retention of Lord Melbournes administration, today, the role of the British monarch is by convention effectively ceremonial. No person may accept significant public office without swearing an oath of allegiance to the Queen, with few exceptions, the monarch is bound by constitutional convention to act on the advice of the Government. Constitutional monarchy also occurred briefly in the years of the French Revolution. As originally conceived, a monarch was head of the executive branch and quite a powerful figure even though his or her power was limited by the constitution. In many cases the monarchs, while still at the top of the political and social hierarchy, were given the status of servants of the people to reflect the new. In the course of Frances July Monarchy, Louis-Philippe I was styled King of the French rather than King of France, following the Unification of Germany, Otto von Bismarck rejected the British model. However this model of constitutional monarchy was discredited and abolished following Germanys defeat in the First World War. Later, Fascist Italy could also be considered as a constitutional monarchy and this eventually discredited the Italian monarchy and led to its abolition in 1946. After the Second World War, surviving European monarchies almost invariably adopted some variant of the constitutional monarchy model originally developed in Britain, nowadays a parliamentary democracy that is a constitutional monarchy is considered to differ from one that is a republic only in detail rather than in substance. However, three important factors distinguish monarchies such as the United Kingdom from systems where greater power might otherwise rest with Parliament, other privileges may be nominal or ceremonial
Constitutional monarchy
–
Constitutional monarchies with representative
parliamentary systems are shown in green. Other constitutional monarchies are shown in light green.
35.
The New York Times
–
The New York Times is an American daily newspaper, founded and continuously published in New York City since September 18,1851, by The New York Times Company. The New York Times has won 119 Pulitzer Prizes, more than any other newspaper, the papers print version in 2013 had the second-largest circulation, behind The Wall Street Journal, and the largest circulation among the metropolitan newspapers in the US. The New York Times is ranked 18th in the world by circulation, following industry trends, its weekday circulation had fallen in 2009 to fewer than one million. Nicknamed The Gray Lady, The New York Times has long been regarded within the industry as a newspaper of record. The New York Times international version, formerly the International Herald Tribune, is now called the New York Times International Edition, the papers motto, All the News Thats Fit to Print, appears in the upper left-hand corner of the front page. On Sunday, The New York Times is supplemented by the Sunday Review, The New York Times Book Review, The New York Times Magazine and T, some other early investors of the company were Edwin B. Morgan and Edward B. We do not believe that everything in Society is either right or exactly wrong, —what is good we desire to preserve and improve, —what is evil, to exterminate. In 1852, the started a western division, The Times of California that arrived whenever a mail boat got to California. However, when local California newspapers came into prominence, the effort failed, the newspaper shortened its name to The New-York Times in 1857. It dropped the hyphen in the city name in the 1890s, One of the earliest public controversies it was involved with was the Mortara Affair, the subject of twenty editorials it published alone. At Newspaper Row, across from City Hall, Henry Raymond, owner and editor of The New York Times, averted the rioters with Gatling guns, in 1869, Raymond died, and George Jones took over as publisher. Tweed offered The New York Times five million dollars to not publish the story, in the 1880s, The New York Times transitioned gradually from editorially supporting Republican Party candidates to becoming more politically independent and analytical. In 1884, the paper supported Democrat Grover Cleveland in his first presidential campaign, while this move cost The New York Times readership among its more progressive and Republican readers, the paper eventually regained most of its lost ground within a few years. However, the newspaper was financially crippled by the Panic of 1893, the paper slowly acquired a reputation for even-handedness and accurate modern reporting, especially by the 1890s under the guidance of Ochs. Under Ochs guidance, continuing and expanding upon the Henry Raymond tradition, The New York Times achieved international scope, circulation, in 1910, the first air delivery of The New York Times to Philadelphia began. The New York Times first trans-Atlantic delivery by air to London occurred in 1919 by dirigible, airplane Edition was sent by plane to Chicago so it could be in the hands of Republican convention delegates by evening. In the 1940s, the extended its breadth and reach. The crossword began appearing regularly in 1942, and the section in 1946
The New York Times
–
Cover of The New York Times (November 15, 2012), with the headline story reporting on
Operation Pillar of Defense.
The New York Times
–
First published issue of New-York Daily Times, on September 18, 1851.
The New York Times
–
The Times Square Building, The New York Times ' publishing headquarters, 1913–2007
The New York Times
–
The New York Times newsroom, 1942
36.
Allies of World War I
–
The Allies of World War I were the countries that opposed the Central Powers in the First World War. The members of the original Triple Entente of 1907 were the French Republic, the British Empire, Belgium, Serbia, Greece, Montenegro, and Romania were affiliated members of the Entente. The 1920 Treaty of Sèvres defines the Principal Allied Powers as the British Empire, French Republic, Italy, the Allied Powers comprised, together with the Principal Allied Powers, Armenia, Belgium, Greece, Hejaz, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Serb-Croat-Slovene state and Czechoslovakia. The U. S. declaration of war on Germany, on 6th April 1917 was on the grounds that Germany had violated its neutrality by attacking international shipping and it declared war on Austria-Hungary in December 1917. The U. S. entered the war as a power, rather than as a formal ally of France. Although the Ottoman Empire and Bulgaria severed relations with the United States, the Dominion governments did control recruiting, and removed personnel from front-line duties as they saw fit. From early 1917, the War Cabinet was superseded by the Imperial War Cabinet, in April 1918, operational control of all Entente forces on the Western Front passed to the new supreme commander, Ferdinand Foch of France. The Austrian Empire followed with an attack on the Serbian ally Montenegro on 8 August, on the Western Front, the two neutral States of Belgium and Luxembourg were immediately occupied by German troops as part of the German Schlieffen Plan. On 23 August Japan joined the Entente, which then counted seven members, the entrance of the British Empire brought Nepal into the war. In 1916, Montenegro capitulated and left the Entente, and two nations joined, Portugal and Romania, on 6 April 1917, the United States entered the war. Liberia, Siam and Greece also became allies and this was followed by Romanian cessation of hostilities, however the Balkan State declared war on Central Powers again on 10 November 1918. In response to the Germans invasion of neutral Belgium, the United Kingdom declared war on Germany on 4 August 1914, gibraltar, Cyprus and Malta were British dependencies in Europe. The UK held several colonies, protectorates, and semi-autonomous dependencies at the time of World War I, in Eastern Africa the East Africa Protectorate, Nyasaland, both Northern and Southern Rhodesia, the Uganda Protectorate, were involved in conflict with German forces in German East Africa. In Western Africa, the colonies of Gold Coast and Nigeria were involved in actions against German forces from Togoland. In Southwestern Africa, the dominion of South Africa was involved in military actions against German forces in German South-West Africa. Canada and Newfoundland were two autonomous dominions during the war that made major contributions to the British war effort. Other British dependent territories in the Americas included, British Honduras, the Falkland Islands, British Guiana, and Jamaica. The UK held large possessions in Asia, including the Indian Empire which was an assortment of British imperial authorities in the territory now defined as India, Bangladesh, Burma, australia and New Zealand were two autonomous dominions of the UK in Oceania during the war
Allies of World War I
–
A 1914 Russian poster depicting the Triple Entente.
Allies of World War I
–
European military alliances prior to the war.
Allies of World War I
–
The Council of Four (from left to right):
David Lloyd George,
Vittorio Emanuele Orlando,
Georges Clemenceau and
Woodrow Wilson in Versailles
Allies of World War I
–
British soldiers in a trench during the
Battle of the Somme in 1916.
37.
Social welfare state
–
The welfare state is a concept of government in which the state plays a key role in the protection and promotion of the social and economic well-being of its citizens. It is based on the principles of equality of opportunity, equitable distribution of wealth, the general term may cover a variety of forms of economic and social organization. Marshall described the modern state as a distinctive combination of democracy, welfare. Esping-Andersen classified the most developed welfare state systems into three categories, Social Democratic, Conservative, and Liberal, the welfare state involves a transfer of funds from the state, to the services provided, as well as directly to individuals. It is funded through redistributionist taxation and is referred to as a type of mixed economy. Such taxation usually includes an income tax for people with higher incomes. Proponents argue that this helps reduce the gap between the rich and poor. The German term Sozialstaat has been used since 1870 to describe state support programs devised by German Sozialpolitiker, the literal English equivalent social state didnt catch on in Anglophone countries. However, during the Second World War, Anglican Archbishop William Temple, author of the book Christianity and the Social Order, popularized the concept using the phrase welfare state. Bishop Temples use of state has been connected to Benjamin Disraelis 1845 novel Sybil, or the Two Nations, which speaks of the only duty of power. In Germany, the term Wohlfahrtsstaat, a translation of the English welfare state, is used to describe Swedens social insurance arrangements. The Italian term stato sociale reproduces the original German term, spanish and many other languages employ an analogous term, estado del bienestar – literally, state of well-being. In Brazil, the concept is referred to as previdência social, in French, welfare state is translated into LÉtat-providence. Modern welfare programs are distinguished from earlier forms of poverty relief by their universal. The institution of social insurance in Germany under Bismarck was an influential template, some schemes were based largely in the development of autonomous, mutualist provision of benefits. Others were founded on state provision, in an influential essay, Citizenship and Social Class, British sociologist T. H. Examples of such states are Germany, all of the Nordic countries, the Netherlands, France, Uruguay and New Zealand, since that time, the term welfare state applies only to states where social rights are accompanied by civil and political rights. Changed attitudes in reaction to the worldwide Great Depression, which brought unemployment, during the Great Depression, the welfare state was seen as a middle way between the extremes of communism on the left and unregulated laissez-faire capitalism on the right
Social welfare state
–
>30%
38.
Austrofascism
–
It was based on a ruling party, the Fatherland Front and the Heimwehr paramilitary militia. Austrofascism, which was Catholic, corporatist and espoused Austrian nationalism, must be contrasted with Austrian National Socialism, the Austrofascist movements origin lies in the Korneuburg Oath, a declaration released by the Christian Social paramilitary organization Heimwehr on 18 May 1930. The declaration condemned both, the Marxist class struggle, and the structures of liberal-capitalism. Furthermore, it rejected the Western democratic parliamentary system and -party state. Ideologically, Austrofascism was partly based on a fusion of Italian fascism, as expounded by Giovanni Gentile, to prevent its loss of power, the government sought to replace Austrian democracy with an authoritarian system. These efforts were supported from abroad by Benito Mussolini, the opportunity for such a transition arrived on 4 March 1933 when the national parliament was paralysed by procedural disputes. Dollfuss branded this as the self-elimination of the Parliament and proceeded to rule on the basis of the Wartime Economy Authority Law and this law had been passed in 1917 during World War I to enable the government to issue decrees ensuring the supply of necessities. The law had never been revoked and was now used by the Dollfuss government to inaugurate an authoritarian state. On 7 March 1933 the Council of Ministers issued a ban on assembly, press regulations were also levied by the Wartime Economy Authority Law and touted as economic safeguards. This allowed for censorship of the press, but the government was eager to avoid the appearance of open censorship, the opposition made a final attempt to reverse the changes in parliament, which was met by police power on 15 March 1933. On 31 March the government dissolved the Republican Schutzbund, on 10 April 1933 the Glöckel-Erlass, authored by former Social Democratic Education Minister Otto Glöckel, was abolished, the new law made participation in Catholic lessons in schools mandatory. On 10 May, all federal, state and local elections were cancelled, the Communist Party of Austria was dissolved on 26 May, the National Socialist Workers Party on 19 June, and the Free Thinkers Guild on 20 June. The Hotel Schiff, an asylum of the Social Democrats in Linz, was raided by the police in February 1934, the Social Democrats resisted, leading to the Austrian Civil War, which was quelled with military and paramilitary force. Afterward, the Social Democratic Party was banned in Austria, on 30 April 1934 the national parliament, in its last session, passed a law that authorised the government with all the powers previously held by parliament. The Federal Council was retained, though only as a significantly limited check on the Federal government, the National Council lost its power to initiate legislation but was still expected to approve decrees from the government. All essential power lay with the Federal Chancellor, who appointed his government single-handedly, and the Federal President, Chancellor Dollfuss was killed in July 1934, during an attempt by Austrias National Socialist Party to topple the regime and proclaim a Nazi government under Ambassador to Rome Anton Rintelen. The assassination of Dollfuss was accompanied by Nazi uprisings in many regions in Austria, in Carinthia a large contingent of northern German Nazis tried to grab power but were subdued by the loyalist Heimwehr units. The Nazi assassins holding the Federal Chancellery Vienna surrendered after threats to dynamite the building and were executed before the end of July, support for the Nazi movement in Austria was surpassed only by that in Germany, allegedly amounting to 75% in some areas
Austrofascism
–
Flag of the Fatherland Front of Austria.
39.
Dictatorship
–
A dictatorship is a type of authoritarianism, in which politicians regulate nearly every aspect of the public and private behavior of citizens. Dictatorship and totalitarianism societies generally employ political propaganda to decrease the influence of proponents of alternative governing systems, in the past different religious tactics were used by the dictators to maintain their rule. Like the Monarchy system in the west, in the 19th and 20th centuries, traditional monarchies gradually declined and disappeared. Dictatorship and constitutional democracy emerged as the two major forms of government. Since World War II a broader range of dictatorships have been recognized including Third World dictatorships, theocratic or religious dictatorships, in the Roman Empire, a Roman dictator was the incumbent of a political office of legislate of the Roman Republic. Roman dictators were allocated absolute power during times of emergency and their power was originally neither arbitrary nor unaccountable, being subject to law and requiring retrospective justification. There were no such dictatorships after the beginning of the 2nd century BC, and later such as Sulla. After the collapse of Spanish colonial rule, various dictators came to power in many liberated countries, such dictators have been also referred to as personalismo. The wave of military dictatorships in Latin America in the half of the twentieth century left a particular mark on Latin American culture. In Latin American literature, the dictator novel challenging dictatorship and caudillismo is a significant genre, there are also many films depicting Latin American military dictatorships. After World War II, dictators established themselves in the new states of Africa and Asia. These constitutions often failed to work without a middle class or work against the preexisting autocratic rule. Some elected presidents and prime ministers captured power by suppressing the opposition and installing one-party rule, whatever their form, these dictatorships had an adverse impact on economic growth and the quality of political institutions. Dictators who stayed in office for a time period found it increasingly difficult to carry out sound economic policies. The often-cited exploitative dictator is the regime of Mobutu Sese Seko, the global dynamics of democratization has been a central question for political scientists. The Third Wave Democracy was said to turn some dictatorships into democracies, the DD index is seen as an example of the minimalist approach, whereas the Polity data series, relatively more substantive. The most general term is despotism, a form of government in which a single entity rules with absolute power and that entity may be an individual, as in an autocracy, or it may be a group, as in an oligarchy. Despotism can mean tyranny, or absolutism, or dictatorship, dictatorship may take the form of authoritarianism or totalitarianism
Dictatorship
–
Chinese Communist Party Chairman
Mao Zedong meets with U.S. President
Richard Nixon. Mao's dictatorial rule from 1949 to 1976 is believed to have caused the deaths of an estimated 40 to more than 70 million people.
Dictatorship
–
Adolf Hitler (right) and
Benito Mussolini (left). Hitler's policies and orders resulted in the death of about 11 million noncombatants.
Dictatorship
–
People's Republic of China celebrate
Joseph Stalin 's 70th birthday
Dictatorship
–
Mobutu Sese Seko, Zaire's longtime dictator.
40.
Engelbert Dollfuss
–
Engelbert Dollfuss was an Austrian Christian Social and Patriotic Front statesman. Having served as Minister for Forests and Agriculture, he ascended to Federal Chancellor in 1932 in the midst of a crisis for the conservative government, in early 1933, he shut down parliament, banned the Austrian Nazi party and assumed dictatorial powers. Suppressing the Socialist movement in February 1934, he cemented the rule of “austrofascism” through the authoritarian First of May Constitution, Dollfuss was assassinated as part of a failed coup attempt by Nazi agents in 1934. His successor Kurt Schuschnigg maintained the regime until Adolf Hitler’s annexation of Austria in 1938 and he was born in Texing in Lower Austria to unmarried mother Josepha Dollfuss and her lover Joseph Weninger. The couple, of peasant origin, was unable to get married due to financial problems, a few months after her son’s birth, Josepha married landowner Leopold Schmutz in Kirnberg, who did not, however, adopt Engelbert as his own child. Dollfuss, who was raised as a devout Roman Catholic, received a scholarship for the seminary of the Archdiocese of Vienna in Hollabrunn in 1904. Having obtained his Matura degree in 1913, he first decided to continue his studies at the Vienna seminary, at the outbreak of World War I, Dollfuss had difficulty gaining admission into the Austro-Hungarian Army as he was only 153 centimetres or 5 feet 0.2 inches tall. Dollfuss’ diminutive status would remain an object of all his life, among his nicknames were Millimetternich. Dollfuss was eventually accepted and joined the Tyrolean Landesschützen regiment at Brixen, serving as commander of a machine gun artillery division, he was a highly decorated soldier and was briefly taken by the Italian forces as a prisoner of war in 1918. Together with occasional allies like Arthur Seyss-Inquart, Robert Hohlbaum and Hermann Neubacher, he distinguished himself as a German nationalist, from 1919 he worked as secretary of the Austrian Farmers’ Association and was sent to study economics at the University of Berlin. There Engelbert met Alwine Glienke, a German woman from a Protestant family, the couple had one son and two daughters, with one daughter dying during early childhood. Dollfuss finished his studies and obtained the doctor of law degree in 1922 and he worked as a secretary of the Lower Austrian Chamber of Agriculture and in 1927 became its director. At the instigation of his party colleague Chancellor Carl Vaugoin, he was appointed president of the Austrian Federal Railways in 1930, in the 1930 legislative election, the Social Democrats emerged as the strongest party and Vaugoin resigned as chancellor. In March 1931, Dollfuss was named Minister of Agriculture and Forests in the coalition cabinet of Chancellor Otto Ender. When Ender resigned a few months later at the height of the Creditanstalt affair, however, the political situation became more and more unstable after a failed Heimwehr coup détat and the Nazi Party reaching a significant level of votes in several Landtag elections. The CS lost its Greater German allies in parliament and when the Social Democrats requested the dissolution of the National Council, the coalition assumed the pressing task of tackling the problems of the Great Depression. Much of the Austro-Hungarian Empire’s industry had been situated in the areas became part of Czechoslovakia and Yugoslavia after World War I as a result of the Treaty of Saint-Germain. Postwar Austria was therefore economically disadvantaged, Dollfuss’ majority in Parliament was marginal, his government had only a one-vote majority
Engelbert Dollfuss
–
Chancellor Dollfuss in
Geneva, 1933
Engelbert Dollfuss
–
Dollfuss pictured in Kaiserschützen uniform, 1933.
Engelbert Dollfuss
–
Benito Mussolini styled himself
Il Duce (the leader).
