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Austria The Austrian People's Party
The Austrian People's Party (Österreichische Volkspartei--
ÖVP) was created in Vienna in 1945 by leaders of the former
Christian Social Party (Christlichsoziale Partei--CSP). The
founders of the ÖVP made sure that the new party was only loosely
tied to the Roman Catholic Church, unlike its predecessor. The
ÖVP emerged as a conservative, democratic party based on
Christian values that sought to include diverse interests. From
1945 to 1966, ÖVP politicians filled the post of chancellor in a
series of grand coalition governments with the SPÖ (from 1945 to
1947, KPÖ members were also in the cabinet). From 1966 to 1970,
the ÖVP ruled alone and thereafter entered a long period of
opposition to the SPÖ, which ended in early 1987 when the two
parties formed a new coalition government (see
table 15,
Appendix).
The ÖVP periodically has revised its party program. During
the 1945-55 period, the party advocated low taxes, reduced
government expenditures, a balanced budget, and low wage
increases. The ÖVP favored a limited government role in the
economy. After much debate, in 1965 the party adopted the
Klagenfurt Manifesto, which referred to the ÖVP as an "open
people's party" of the "new center." The manifesto laid less
emphasis than previous ones on the priority of personal property
in a democracy. It also stressed the importance of expanding
economic welfare and educational opportunities for all social
groups.
After suffering losses in the 1970 parliamentary election,
the ÖVP entered the opposition for the first time. A wide-ranging
discussion of principles took place at all levels of the party.
The outcome of this process was the 1972 Salzburg Program, which
described the ÖVP as a "progressive center party" dedicated to
integrating Austria's different social groups. The program
reaffirmed the party's commitment to a free and independent
country, a multiparty democracy, and a social market economy
combining free enterprise and some government intervention. As of
1993, the Salzburg Program had not been replaced as the basic
statement of ÖVP ideology.
The ÖVP had a less centralized form of party organization
than the SPÖ as of the early 1990s. At the top is the party
presidium, composed of the party chairman, the chancellor and
vice chancellor (if they are members of the ÖVP), the general
secretary, up to six deputies to the chairman, the leader of the
party's parliamentary faction, and eight additional members drawn
from the provinces and interest groups affiliated with the party.
The party holds a national conference at least once every three
years. Roughly 600 delegates from the provinces and the party's
auxiliary organizations attend the conference, which elects the
party chairman, the deputies, and the general secretary.
The auxiliary organizations play important roles in the ÖVP's
internal workings. The key organizations are the League of
Austrian Workers and Salaried Employees (Österreichischer
Arbeiter- und Angestelltenbund--ÖAAB), the League of Austrian
Business (Österreichischer Wirtschaftsbund--ÖWB), and the League
of Austrian Farmers (Österreichischer Bauernbund--ÖBB). These
organizations represent the ÖVP in the chambers of labor,
commerce, and agriculture, respectively. Until 1980 the leaders
of these three groups were automatically placed on the party
presidium. However, this practice was abandoned after many party
members complained about undue influence by interest groups over
ÖVP affairs. This reform was yet another indication of the
erosion in the influence of the traditional Lager over
Austrian society.
The majority of ÖVP members acquire party membership
indirectly via one of the auxiliary organizations. Because of
indirect membership, it is difficult to arrive at a precise
figure for total membership in the ÖVP. At the beginning of the
1990s, the combined membership of the three leagues was about
800,000. Adding to this figure members of the women's, youth, and
senior organizations, a total membership of 1.2 million was
attained. However, the ÖVP's actual membership was about onethird smaller than this because many individuals belonged to more
than one league or subgroup.
The independence of auxiliary organizations affiliated with
the ÖVP means that there is a fairly high degree of intraparty
disagreement over policies compared with the SPÖ and other
Austrian parties. One major cleavage exists between the ÖAAB,
which represents the interests of working people in the ÖVP, and
the ÖWB, which speaks for business interests. The farmers' group,
the ÖBB, has clashed with the ÖWB over the issue of whether
Austria should join the European Union
(EU--see Glossary).
Tensions between the wings of the party remained high even in the
early 1990s, despite numerous partywide discussions of ideology
designed to bring about consensus. Some experts believe that the
cohesion of the Catholic-conservative Lager will be
endangered if the ÖVP does not achieve a higher degree of party
unity than that prevailing in 1993.
Alois Mock, who came from Lower Austria, one of the party's
strongholds, held the position of party chairman from 1979 to
1989. As the party struggled with declining vote totals, many in
the ÖVP concluded that his uncharismatic leadership style was a
hindrance to a recovery at the polls. Mock withstood pressure for
his ouster after the party's poor performance in the national
election of 1986, and his stature temporarily increased when he
became vice chancellor and foreign minister in the coalition
government formed in early 1987 with the SPÖ. Discontent with
Mock resurfaced quickly, however, and there were also disturbing
signs of party disunity. After the heavy losses incurred by the
ÖVP in the provincial elections in the spring of 1989, Mock's
opponents pressed again for his resignation. At an emergency
summit in April 1989, Mock was finally convinced to step down as
party chairman. He also relinquished the post of vice chancellor.
His replacement in both positions was Josef Riegler, a member of
the ÖBB from Styria.
Riegler had served as agriculture minister between 1987 and
1989 and was known as a consensus seeker who would be able to get
along well with the SPÖ. Riegler was also interested in
developing new approaches to environmental problems, and many in
the party hoped this would help the ÖVP regain some of the voters
who had deserted it for the environmental, or Green, parties.
However, the devastating results of the October 1990 national
election, in which the ÖVP's share of the vote declined by 9
percent, proved that the party's problems went much deeper than
who held the post of party chairman. In May 1991, Riegler decided
not to run again for the party chairmanship. Erhard Busek, a
well-known ÖVP politician who had headed the party's Vienna
branch between 1976 and 1989, won the election to succeed
Riegler. At the same time, the party conference voted to reduce
the number of the chairman's deputies from six to two, a sign
that party members wanted to curb the influence of the interest
groups.
Data as of December 1993
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