In 2006 the Social Democrats won an unexpected victory in the parliamentary elections, narrowly defeating the Austrian People’s Party. In January 2007 those two parties formed a coalition government, with Alfred Gusenbauer of the Social Democrats as chancellor. However, the unpopularity of Gusenbauer, who was perceived as an ineffective leader, as well as disputes over social policy, soon weakened the coalition. It collapsed in July 2008 following the withdrawal of the People’s Party. Parliamentary elections held that September—the first in which 16- and 17-year-olds were allowed to vote—resulted in a narrow win for the Social Democrats over the People’s Party. However, the Freedom Party and the Alliance for the Future of Austria enjoyed a resurgence: combined votes for the two right-wing parties exceeded those for the People’s Party. Nevertheless, the Social Democrats and the People’s Party agreed to form a new coalition government, excluding the far right, in November 2008. Werner Faymann of the Social Democrats was selected as chancellor.
The most pressing concern for the “grand coalition” was the precarious state of the European economy. Beginning in 2009, the euro-zone debt crisis acted as a persistent drag on Austria’s economic health, as consumer confidence sagged and exports declined. The Austrian financial sector was heavily exposed to the southern European economies that were at the centre of the debt crisis, and the government adopted a policy of robust intervention to shore up the country’s ailing banks. Faced with these challenges, the coalition exhibited a degree of cooperation unseen in previous years, as it implemented a series of austerity measures designed to bring Austria’s deficit into compliance with the EU’s Stability and Growth Pact. These policies, which included a public-sector wage freeze and a package of tax increases, did little to endear either of the ruling parties to voters, and each saw a steady erosion of support in state and local elections.
While the economy showed signs of stabilizing in 2011, corruption scandals and a leadership vacancy in the People’s Party fueled support for the Freedom Party. Although it remained outside the government, the Freedom Party’s Euroskeptic and anti-immigrant rhetoric influenced discussions at the national level, and the party ranked even or ahead of the ruling parties in opinion polls. Controversial statements made by Freedom Party leader Heinz-Christian Strache drew criticism from the mainstream parties. Those denouncements intensified in August 2012, after Strache posted a cartoon to the social media site Facebook that was widely characterized as anti-Semitic. Support for the Freedom Party was diluted when Austrian-born Canadian billionaire Frank Stronach announced in September 2012 that he was forming a new political party. Called Team Stronach, the party promoted an antiestablishment, pro-business agenda that favoured lower corporate taxes and disengagement from the weaker euro-zone economies. The Freedom Party suffered a series of reverses in regional elections in 2013, and it was unable to capitalize on a collapse in support for the Social Democrats in Salzburg. A financial scandal there triggered early elections, and the Greens, running on an anti-corruption platform, boosted their national standing with an impressive finish in the last regional contest before the scheduled September 2013 general election.
That election saw the “grand coalition” returned to power, with Faymann as chancellor, albeit with a slightly reduced majority. The Freedom Party posted a strong third-place finish, ahead of the Greens, Team Stronach, and the neoliberal New Austria (NEOS). Low unemployment and a stable economy had fueled support for the governing parties, but a worsening migrant crisis, the military conflict in Ukraine, and a series of terrorist attacks on European soil caused that foundation to erode throughout 2014–15. In January 2016 Austria suspended its participation in the Schengen Agreement, reintroducing border controls in an effort to stem the tide of refugees (principally fleeing turmoil in Syria, elsewhere in the Middle East, and in Africa).
Many dismissed that effort as too little, too late, as evidenced by the Freedom Party’s landslide victory in the first round of presidential balloting in April 2016. Although the office of president was largely ceremonial, the rejection of the two ruling parties—both of which had failed to advance to the runoff election—signaled a major shift in the mood of the Austrian electorate. Stating that he had lost the support of his party, Faymann announced his resignation in May 2016. The second round of the presidential election, held on May 22, was narrowly won by Green candidate Alexander Van der Bellen. The closeness of the outcome led the Freedom Party to challenge the results, and Austria’s Constitutional Court ruled that irregularities had occurred in a majority of polling districts. The election was annulled and rescheduled for October 2016, but faulty glue on postal ballots forced the postponement of the election until December. On December 4, 2016, Van der Bellen won a clear victory, capturing 54 percent of the vote and offering a glimmer of hope to Europe’s centre-left at a time of growing support for far right and Euroskeptic parties.
In May 2017 a deadlock over policy within the “grand coalition” led Social Democrat Chancellor Christian Kern to call for early elections. Support for the Freedom Party remained high, but the People’s Party, under telegenic new leader Sebastian Kurz, tacked hard right in the months prior to the election and embraced much of the Freedom Party’s anti-immigrant and anti-Muslim rhetoric. Kurz, who had served as foreign minister in the “grand coalition” government, revived the flagging fortunes of the mainstream conservative party, and he carried it to victory in the general election held on October 15, 2017. The Social Democrats were second, and the Freedom Party finished a strong third. Party infighting led to the spectacular collapse of the Greens, who, for the first time in nearly four decades, failed to clear the 4 percent threshold necessary for parliamentary representation. After months of talks, the People’s Party and Freedom Party agreed to form a coalition, and in December 2017 Kurz, at age 31, became Europe’s youngest head of government. Before swearing in the new chancellor, Van der Bellen took the extraordinary step of securing a pledge to maintain Austria’s pro-EU stance and to acknowledge the country’s responsibility for the scourge of Nazism. The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica
Citation Information
Article Title: Austria
Website Name: Encyclopaedia Britannica
Publisher: Encyclopaedia Britannica, Inc.
Date Published: 05 August 2019
URL: https://www.britannica.com/place/Austria
Access Date: August 10, 2019
Additional Reading Geography
Eugene K. Keefe et al., Area Handbook for Austria (1976), though old, is still valuable for its survey of physical features and its description of national traditions and culture. Austria, Facts and Figures (1990), published by the Federal Press Service, is an informative compendium of illustrations and statistics. Among the more comprehensive guidebooks are Ian Robertson, Austria, 2nd ed. (1987); and Franz N. Mehling (ed.), Austria (1985; originally published in German, 1977), from the Phaidon Cultural Guide series. Harald Gardos and Manfred Wagner, Some Aspects of Cultural Policies in Austria (1981), is a brief UNESCO study.