At a Glance:

Government Portal

Year became a federation: 1918

Current constitution in force since: 1920

Cconstituent units: 9 Länder (English: states)

Association of Municipal Governments

Head of State: Federal President

Head of Government: Federal Chancellor

Legislature:
Upper House: Bundesrat (Federal Council) [German]

Lower House: Nationalrat (National Council)

Austria
Austrian roundtable debates intergovernmental relations
Federalism experts, academics and practitioners from Austria recently participated in a roundtable on intergovernmental relations in federal countries at the Landhaus Innsbruck - the legislature of th  More Information

 

Our work in Austria

Starting in 2004, the Forum has worked with local partners in Austria to organize learning events on issues ranging from Austrian constitutional reform to intergovernmental relations.

AustriaFederalism in Austria

Austria’s federalism is ususally characterized as being centralized. Therefore, some would like to see more federalism in this central European nation. A constitutional convention set up in 2003 failed to make major changes, although electoral reforms were enacted.

The first Austrian Republic (1918–33/34) succeeded the Austro-Hungarian Empire and adopted a federal constitution in 1920 that is still in force today. The constitution itself has been revised several times and every revision has contributed to a strengthening of the federal level of Austrian politics.

Incorporated into Nazi Germany in 1938, Austria once again became a federal state after Germany’s defeat in 1945. The 1920 constitution was then reinstated with all its revisions and the pre-1934 legislation. Austria regained its sovereignty in 1955 in exchange for a constitutional guarantee of its permanent neutrality and became a member of the European Union in 1995.

Through the years, Austria's regions - known as Länder - tried to stop the trend towards centralization of power in Austria. Although they succeeded in bringing about some constitutional change to strengthen their position vis-à-vis the federal government, Austria remains a country of “unitary” federalism – i.e., one in which regional power is clearly subordinated to federal power.