Politics In Austria

Long characterized by stability--even rigidity--Austrian politics is becoming more dynamic and combative. Tracing the disruption of the "postwar pattern" in Austria, this book explores the recent dramatic evolution in Austria's political system. The contributors examine the decline of the established Social Democratic and Conservative parties and c

First Published in 1992. This is a collection of eight articles looking at consociationalism in the Austrian political system. Areas covered are the decline of the 'Lager Mentality', parties and the party system, governmental institutions, changing priorities in Austrian economic policy, Austria in the European arena and the success of consociationalism.

A great deal has been said and written about Jorg Haider, the charismatic but controversial leader of Austria's Freedom Party. To some he is a neo-Nazi and admirer of fellow Austrian Adolf Hitler's policies. To others he is merely an artful opportunist, a telegenic master of coded sound bites and slogans that means different things to different people. And to that quarter of the country's voters who voted this glamorous rabble-rouser's Freedom Party (FPO) to power in 1999, he represents a fresh alternative to the incestuous two-party oligarchy that had run Austria for a half century. This book goes a long way in explaining how his use of rhetoric and language style reminiscent of Nazi leanings have promoted his meteoric rise to political power, and how this same rhetoric could possibly be this man's downfall. For instance, he has been outspoken about endorsing Hitler's unemployment practices, as well as calling former SS veterans, men of character. As a result, among his FPO party members, there are rumors of a split, for there are some who object to his use of language, and his penchant for using the Nazi agenda as a backdrop for their party's political domination. Defiant Populist is about de-bunking the Haider myth created by the love-hate relationship of a clever maverick and the media who feed upon one another. To be understood, the Haider phenomenon needs to be seen in the context of the strange politics of a country that leads a very sheltered existence in the heart of Europe and yet continues to be the odd man out in more ways than one, from machine politics to neutrality, from its hang-ups about past glories to its ambivalent approach to its German and European identity, from its conservative mentality to its lack of a real conservative tradition in politics. This book explains and analyzes the Haider phenomenon from the context of a country of contrasts: an admirable record of non-violence and social peace with residual anti-Semitism, socialist economics with enviable wealth, staunchly pro-Western values with equally ardent neutralism, and a relatively new Austrian identity with a dark German past. Lothar Hobelt is one of Austria's leading modern political historians. In addition to over a hundred articles, he has published ten books, including Republik im Wandel: Die groÃYe Koalition und der Aufstieg der Haider-FPÃ-, and Von der Vierten Partei zur Dritten Kraft: Die Geschichte des VdU. He appears regularly in print, radio, and television media, both at home and abroad, as an authority on Jörg Haider and the Freedom Party. Dr. Hobelt has held visiting professorships at the Universities of Chicago and New Orleans, and has taught since 1983 at the University of Vienna.

Explains one of the most important phenomena in Western Europe: the rise of far-right parties.

By virtue of its geographical and historical position, postwar Austria was condemned to a prominent role in the plans of both the East and the West. In this account of an unusual episode in the Cold War, Audrey Kurth Cronin examines the negotiations over Austria and the Soviet Union's sudden and surprising decision to withdraw its troops and accept the country as a neutral Western state, after having rejected any settlement for eight years. Drawing on a wealth of recently declassified British and American documents and on interviews with key Austrian participants, Cronin analyzes the events leading up to the 1955 Austrian State Treaty and, in the process, strengthens our understanding of current East-West relations. Her account of the creation of a neutral state in the heart of a divided Europe will be important reading for all who are concerned with security affairs, international relations, and the history of the Cold War.

Heinisch (West European studies, U. of Pittsburgh) provides an account of Austrian politics that explores why a small, affluent, peaceful nation suddenly became an international pariah in which nearly one third of the population voted for a right-wing party denounced by almost all democratic governments around the world. He also discusses questions