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Austria Bundesrat
The interests of Austria's nine provinces are represented at
the federal level in the Bundesrat (Federal Council), the upper
house of parliament. The Bundesrat has sixty-three seats, which
are apportioned among the provinces on the basis of population.
Each province is guaranteed at least three seats. As of late
1993, the breakdown of seats was as follows: Vienna and Lower
Austria had twelve each; Styria and Upper Austria, ten each;
Tirol, five; Carinthia and Salzburg, four each; and Burgenland
and Vorarlberg, three each. The members of the Bundesrat are
elected by the provincial legislatures on the basis of
proportional representation. At least one seat must be given to
the party having the second largest number of seats in the
provincial legislature. If several parties have the same number
of seats, the party that won the second largest number of votes
in the last provincial election is awarded a seat in the
Bundesrat.
The main purpose of the Bundesrat is to protect provincial
interests, but its powers are restricted because the government
is not answerable to it. All laws passed by the Nationalrat must
be presented to the Bundesrat for review. However, the Bundesrat
can at most delay the passage of laws by means of a suspensive
veto. In such a case, the bill is sent back to the Nationalrat,
which can override the Bundesrat's veto by reapproving the bill.
Once this is done, the bill becomes law. In 1984 the body's
powers were increased by a constitutional amendment that required
approval by two-thirds of the Bundesrat to any proposed
constitutional change in the distribution of competencies between
the federal government and the provinces. Despite this change,
the Bundesrat remains a weak institution.
Data as of December 1993
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