The National Council is where Austria's 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. If the Federal Council vetoes the bill, the National Council may still force it into law by essentially just passing it again; a National Council resolution overruling a Federal Council objection merely has to meet a higher quorum than a regular resolution. In other words, the Federal Council does not have any real power to prevent adoption of legislation, the National Council being easily able to override it. There are three exceptions to this rule:[1]
Constitutional laws or regulations limiting the competencies of the federal states
Laws relating to the rights of the Federal Council itself
Treaties concerning the jurisdiction of the federal states.
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, and motions to declare war all need a two-thirds majority in the National Council. Only motions to impeach the President can also be from the Federal Council.[2]
Elections
Regional constituencies in Austria. State constituencies are shown in colors.
The 183 members of the National Council are elected by nationwide popular vote for a term of five years; each Austrian sixteen years or older on the day the election takes place is entitled to one vote. National Council elections are general elections. The voting system aims at party-list proportional representation and uses partially open lists:
For the purpose of National Council elections, the nine states of Austria constitute regional electoral districts. The nine regional electoral districts are subdivided into a total of 39 local electoral districts. Political parties submit separate ranked lists of candidates for each district, regional or local, in which they have chosen to run. They also submit a federal-level list.
Votes cast are first counted within their local electoral districts. Since there are 39 local districts but 183 seats to fill, most local districts are multi-member districts. The number of seats assigned to each local district is based solely on electoral district population, as established by the most recent census; the partitioning and apportionment rules are simple enough to prevent gerrymandering from becoming an issue. 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[citation needed] (ie the Hare Quota). For example, if 150,000 votes are cast in a five-seat local district, it takes 30,000 votes to win one seat. If a party has scored 61,000 votes out of the 150,000 votes cast, it is entitled to two seats, to be taken by the first two candidates on the party's local district list. 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 local level is dealt with on the regional level, provided that the party it has been cast for has obtained at least four percent of the regional total vote.[citation needed] The system is analogous to that used on the district level; the number of seats assigned to a regional district is simply the number of seats assigned to one of its constituent local districts but not filled during the first round of tallying.
Any vote not accounted for on the regional level either is dealt with on the federal level, provided that the party it has been cast for has obtained at least four percent of the federal total vote. The D'Hondt 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 in the same party list. This means it is not possible to simultaneously vote for the party list of one party but exert influence on the candidate rankings on the party list of another party. A candidate receiving sufficiently many personal votes can rise in rank on his or her district party list; voters thus have a certain degree of influence as to which particular individual wins which particular seat.
Peculiarities
Austria's federal constitution defines Austria as a semi-presidential democracy: the executive branch of government is supposed to be headed by the President, but is also answerable to the National Council. In practice, however, nearly all of the day-to-day work of governing is left to the Chancellor and Cabinet, which are dependent on the confidence of the National Council. The President has the theoretical right to name anyone eligible to serve in the National Council as a minister or Chancellor. However, the National Council's right to sack a minister or the entire cabinet makes it all but impossible for Presidents to appoint a government entirely of their own choosing or keep it in office against the will of the National Council. While the President has the theoretical authority to dissolve a hostile National Council, constitutional convention prevents this power from being exercised.
Austria accordingly functions as a parliamentary democracy: for all intents and purposes, the cabinet is subject to approval by the National Council and is responsible to it, with the president being little more than a figurehead.
A related discrepancy between Austrian constitutional theory and Austrian political practice is that the constitution defines the President of the National Council to be Austria's second highest public official, junior only to the president proper. As a practical matter, however, the Chancellor, who nominally ranks third in the Austrian order of precedence, is the country's leading political figure. Thus, the President of the National Council is a representative of rather moderate significance: wielding less power than the president by extension means wielding less power than the Chancellor or even most federal ministers. The President of the National Council thus serves mostly as a moderator of parliamentary debate.
^"The Responsibilities of the Federal Council – The Federal Council's Right of Objection". Website of the Austrian Parliament. Retrieved 2010-10-04.
^. parlament.gv.at. Archived from the original on 24 March 2009. Retrieved 18 May 2010.
External links
Wikimedia Commons has media related to National Council (Austria).
Official website(in English)
, official rules and regulations (in German)
July 06, 2023
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The National Council German Nationalrat 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 with far more power than the Federal Council National Council Nationalrat27th legislative periodTypeTypeLower house of the Austrian ParliamentHistoryFounded10 November 1920 1920 11 10 Preceded byConstituent National AssemblyLeadershipPresidentWolfgang Sobotka OVP since 18 December 2017Second PresidentDoris Bures SPO since 9 November 2017Third PresidentNorbert Hofer FPO since 23 October 2019StructureSeats183Political groupsGovernment 97 OVP 71 Greens 26 Opposition 86 SPO 40 FPO 30 NEOS 15 Independent 1 ElectionsVoting systemOpen list proportional representationLast election29 September 2019Next electionNextMeeting placeAustrian Parliament Building ViennaWebsiteparlament wbr gv wbr at Contents 1 Responsibilities 2 Elections 3 Peculiarities 4 Latest election 4 1 Results by state 5 Historical composition of the National Council 5 1 1919 1930 5 2 Since 1945 6 Current composition of the National Council 7 See also 8 References 9 External linksResponsibilities EditThe National Council is where Austria s 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 If the Federal Council vetoes the bill the National Council may still force it into law by essentially just passing it again a National Council resolution overruling a Federal Council objection merely has to meet a higher quorum than a regular resolution In other words the Federal Council does not have any real power to prevent adoption of legislation the National Council being easily able to override it There are three exceptions to this rule 1 Constitutional laws or regulations limiting the competencies of the federal states Laws relating to the rights of the Federal Council itself Treaties concerning the jurisdiction of the federal states 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 and motions to declare war all need a two thirds majority in the National Council Only motions to impeach the President can also be from the Federal Council 2 Elections Edit Regional constituencies in Austria State constituencies are shown in colors The 183 members of the National Council are elected by nationwide popular vote for a term of five years each Austrian sixteen years or older on the day the election takes place is entitled to one vote National Council elections are general elections The voting system aims at party list proportional representation and uses partially open lists For the purpose of National Council elections the nine states of Austria constitute regional electoral districts The nine regional electoral districts are subdivided into a total of 39 local electoral districts Political parties submit separate ranked lists of candidates for each district regional or local in which they have chosen to run They also submit a federal level list Votes cast are first counted within their local electoral districts Since there are 39 local districts but 183 seats to fill most local districts are multi member districts The number of seats assigned to each local district is based solely on electoral district population as established by the most recent census the partitioning and apportionment rules are simple enough to prevent gerrymandering from becoming an issue 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 citation needed ie the Hare Quota For example if 150 000 votes are cast in a five seat local district it takes 30 000 votes to win one seat If a party has scored 61 000 votes out of the 150 000 votes cast it is entitled to two seats to be taken by the first two candidates on the party s local district list 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 local level is dealt with on the regional level provided that the party it has been cast for has obtained at least four percent of the regional total vote citation needed The system is analogous to that used on the district level the number of seats assigned to a regional district is simply the number of seats assigned to one of its constituent local districts but not filled during the first round of tallying Any vote not accounted for on the regional level either is dealt with on the federal level provided that the party it has been cast for has obtained at least four percent of the federal total vote The D Hondt 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 in the same party list This means it is not possible to simultaneously vote for the party list of one party but exert influence on the candidate rankings on the party list of another party A candidate receiving sufficiently many personal votes can rise in rank on his or her district party list voters thus have a certain degree of influence as to which particular individual wins which particular seat Peculiarities EditAustria s federal constitution defines Austria as a semi presidential democracy the executive branch of government is supposed to be headed by the President but is also answerable to the National Council In practice however nearly all of the day to day work of governing is left to the Chancellor and Cabinet which are dependent on the confidence of the National Council The President has the theoretical right to name anyone eligible to serve in the National Council as a minister or Chancellor However the National Council s right to sack a minister or the entire cabinet makes it all but impossible for Presidents to appoint a government entirely of their own choosing or keep it in office against the will of the National Council While the President has the theoretical authority to dissolve a hostile National Council constitutional convention prevents this power from being exercised Austria accordingly functions as a parliamentary democracy for all intents and purposes the cabinet is subject to approval by the National Council and is responsible to it with the president being little more than a figurehead A related discrepancy between Austrian constitutional theory and Austrian political practice is that the constitution defines the President of the National Council to be Austria s second highest public official junior only to the president proper As a practical matter however the Chancellor who nominally ranks third in the Austrian order of precedence is the country s leading political figure Thus the President of the National Council is a representative of rather moderate significance wielding less power than the president by extension means wielding less power than the Chancellor or even most federal ministers The President of the National Council thus serves mostly as a moderator of parliamentary debate Latest election EditMain article 2019 Austrian legislative election Party Votes Seats Austrian People s Party OVP 1 789 417 37 46 5 99 71 9Social Democratic Party of Austria SPO 1 011 868 21 18 5 68 40 12Freedom Party of Austria FPO 772 666 16 17 9 80 31 20The Greens The Green Alternative GRUNE 664 055 13 90 10 10 26 26NEOS The New Austria NEOS 387 124 8 10 2 80 15 5JETZT Pilz List JETZT 89 169 1 87 2 54 0 8KPO Plus KPO 32 736 0 69 0 09 0 0Der Wandel WANDL 22 168 0 46 New 0 NewAustrian Beer Party BIER 4 946 0 10 New 0 NewEvery Vote Counts GILT 1 767 0 04 0 91 0 0BZO Carinthia Alliance of Patriots BZO 760 0 02 New 0 NewSocialist Left Party SLP 310 0 01 0 00 0 0Christian Party of Austria CPO 260 0 01 0 00 0 0Invalid blank votes 58 223 Total 4 835 469 100 183 0Registered voters turnout 6 396 812 75 59 4 41 Source Austrian Interior Ministry Archived 2019 10 22 at the Wayback MachineResults by state Edit State OVP SPO FPO Grune NEOS PILZ Others Turnout Burgenland 38 3 29 4 17 3 8 1 4 9 1 3 0 8 81 4 Carinthia 34 9 26 2 19 8 9 5 6 8 1 7 1 1 72 4 Lower Austria 42 3 19 9 16 4 11 0 7 7 1 7 1 0 80 6 Upper Austria 36 8 22 1 17 5 13 7 7 3 1 5 1 1 77 7 Salzburg 46 4 16 4 13 7 12 6 8 4 1 4 1 1 76 4 Styria 38 9 19 2 18 5 13 0 7 1 1 7 1 7 74 8 Tyrol 45 8 13 0 14 7 14 7 8 9 1 7 1 2 71 8 Vorarlberg 36 6 13 1 14 7 18 1 13 6 2 1 1 7 67 7 Vienna 24 6 27 1 12 8 20 7 9 9 3 0 1 9 72 0 Austria 37 5 21 2 16 2 13 9 8 1 1 9 1 3 75 6Source Austrian Interior MinistryHistorical composition of the National Council Edit1919 1930 Edit SDAPO CS German National Movement GDVP Landbund National Economy Bloc GDVP Landbund Heimwehr Others1919 72 69 26 31920 69 85 21 7 11923 68 82 10 51927 71 85 91930 72 66 19 8Since 1945 Edit KPO SPO GRUNE JETZT LiF NEOS OVP BZO FRANK VdU FPO1945 4 76 851949 5 67 77 161953 4 73 74 141956 3 74 82 61959 78 79 81962 76 81 81966 74 85 61970 81 78 61971 93 80 101975 93 80 101979 95 77 111983 90 81 121986 80 8 77 181990 80 10 60 331994 65 13 11 52 421995 71 9 10 52 411999 65 14 52 522002 69 17 79 182006 68 21 66 7 212008 57 20 51 21 342013 52 24 9 47 11 402017 52 8 10 62 512019 40 26 15 71 31Current composition of the National Council EditMain article List of members of the National Council of Austria Group Members LeaderAustrian People s Party OVP 71 183 Karl NehammerSocial Democratic Party of Austria SPO 40 183 Pamela Rendi WagnerFreedom Party of Austria FPO 30 183 Herbert KicklThe Greens The Green Alternative GRUNE 26 183 Sigrid MaurerNEOS The New Austria and Liberal Forum NEOS 15 183 Beate Meinl ReisingerNo group affiliation 1 183 Source National CouncilSee also EditList of presidents of the National Council of Austria Federal Assembly Austria Federal Council Austria Politics of Austria List of legislatures by countryReferences Edit The Responsibilities of the Federal Council The Federal Council s Right of Objection Website of the Austrian Parliament Retrieved 2010 10 04 Federal Assembly Responsibilities and Legal Principles parlament gv at Archived from the original on 24 March 2009 Retrieved 18 May 2010 External links Edit Wikimedia Commons has media related to National Council Austria Official website in English National Council Elections Statute official rules and regulations in German Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title National Council Austria amp oldid 1160470229, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
