Much Continuity, Little Change
Street protests by university students have accompanied the swearing in of the new coalition government of social democrats and liberal conservatives in Austria.
Joachim Becker - Jan. 16, 2007
Students were annoyed that university fees were not abolished as the social democrats had solemnly promised during the election campaign. But dismay was not confined to students. The coalition agreement was disapproved by sections of the social democratic party as well. The general feeling is that social democracy won the elections but lost the coalition negotiations.
In the parliamentary elections of October 2006, the Social Democratic Party of Austria (SPÖ) won 35.3 percent of the votes, and thus slightly surpassed the Austrian People’s Party (ÖVP) which won 34.3 percent. This was not a particularly strong result of the SPÖ, since it lost 1.2 percent compared to the preceding elections. The losses of the ÖVP, however, were much heavier, they amounted to 8.0 percent. The ÖVP defeat had its roots in social discontents. There were resentments against pension cuts. Infrastructure disappeared from the rural areas which are a traditional ÖVP stronghold. The ÖVP politicians were unpleasantly surprised. Both parties were not particularly delighted about forming a coalition. For the lack of alternatives, they entered coalitions talks and concluded them after many squabbles.
The proposed employment policies do not promise the reduction of unemployment. They rather seek a further flexibilization. The government programme proposes to allow shifts of twelve hours and a working days of ten hours, although unemployment in Austria would demand a reduction in working hours.
The compromises accepted by the Austrian social democracy do not seem to be untypical for this political current. Social liberalism is characterised by the acceptance of liberal economic policies favouring international competitiveness. Without ideas for alternativ policies, they withdraw to cushion the social effects of liberal policies but increasingly accept the logics of a workfare system which is accompanied by means of coercion. The output legitimacy of such a political orientation is low, i.e. the measures and their results are badly received by large parts of the population. It is within this logic to limit democratic participation and to reduce the impact of the electorate.
Some union leaders would like to restore the old neo-corporatist system and a strong alignment with the social democrat party. Other social movements are not particularly strong in Austria though but protests have begun to play a more significant role in the political culture since the first ÖVP-FPÖ (right-wing, self-proclaimed Freedom Party in Austria) government was installed in 2000.
It is likely that FPÖ will gain in future elections because the social democrats abandon social issues. The FPÖ election campaign was already built on social demagogy. The governing parties do not confront the xenophobia of the FPÖ. On the contrary, they enter the same field of discourse. For example, the FPÖ prominently used anti-Turkish and anti-Islamic slogans in its recent election campaign. SPÖ and ÖVP demonstrate strong reservations about Turkey’s eventual entry into EU as well. Other than the decision on an EU constitution, they even promise a referendum on this issue. All of this paves the way for a surge of the far-right.
Joachim Becker is a university professor and an analyst of the Institute for Studies in Political Economy (IPE) in Vienna
In the parliamentary elections of October 2006, the Social Democratic Party of Austria (SPÖ) won 35.3 percent of the votes, and thus slightly surpassed the Austrian People’s Party (ÖVP) which won 34.3 percent. This was not a particularly strong result of the SPÖ, since it lost 1.2 percent compared to the preceding elections. The losses of the ÖVP, however, were much heavier, they amounted to 8.0 percent. The ÖVP defeat had its roots in social discontents. There were resentments against pension cuts. Infrastructure disappeared from the rural areas which are a traditional ÖVP stronghold. The ÖVP politicians were unpleasantly surprised. Both parties were not particularly delighted about forming a coalition. For the lack of alternatives, they entered coalitions talks and concluded them after many squabbles.
SPÖ Surrenders Economic Policy
SPÖ negotiators gave in to most ÖVP demands, both at the symbolic and the concrete level. SPÖ ceded key ministries dealing with economic issues – Ministry of Finance, Ministry of Economic Affairs & Labor, Ministry Agriculture – to ÖVP. Economic policies are characterised by an almost complete continuity with the preceding right-wing government. Tight fiscal policies will be continued aiming even for a budget surplus in 2010. Growth is to be export-led. Research & development expenditure is to be stepped up in order to enhance international competitiveness. Employment policies are to be subordinated to a strategy of export-led growth. This is reflected in the design of the ministries. Labour issues continue to be located within the Ministry of Economic Affairs whereas social democrats had demanded to transfer the labour issues back to the Ministry of Social Affairs where they had been located before the year 2000.The proposed employment policies do not promise the reduction of unemployment. They rather seek a further flexibilization. The government programme proposes to allow shifts of twelve hours and a working days of ten hours, although unemployment in Austria would demand a reduction in working hours.
Social Security Initiative: Workfare instead of Welfare?
There seems to be a slight relaxation of labour migration from the new EU members but only for particular groups of workers – seasonal labor and, selected specialists. A minimum wage of 1000 € is to be introduced by the way of a general collective agreement. The most important new initiative is the nation-wide definition of a minimum level of social security (€ 726, 14 times per year). Eligibility for this minimum is not yet defined. There are indications that they are going to be linked to workfare: Those who are capable to work should only get support if they demonstrate willingness to work. The former right wing government had severely cut pensions. At that time, social democrats had criticized that measure. Unions had staged a mass demonstration. However, this so-called pension reform is only to be slightly amended according to the present government program.De-Democratization Not Reversed But Continued
The former government had also reduced democratic participation in a number of fields, among others democratic self-administration of the universities. The coalition negotiations did not provide any debate on democratisation in fields like education or social services, nor has there been any progress in this regard. On the contrary, SPÖ and ÖVP agreed to prolong the legislative period to five years from the next elections onward. Constitutional experts close to the to government parties have justified this measure by pointing out that legislators would be freer to adopt unpopular "reform measures" without undue pressures from the electorate. This is the perspective of a low-intensity democracy.The compromises accepted by the Austrian social democracy do not seem to be untypical for this political current. Social liberalism is characterised by the acceptance of liberal economic policies favouring international competitiveness. Without ideas for alternativ policies, they withdraw to cushion the social effects of liberal policies but increasingly accept the logics of a workfare system which is accompanied by means of coercion. The output legitimacy of such a political orientation is low, i.e. the measures and their results are badly received by large parts of the population. It is within this logic to limit democratic participation and to reduce the impact of the electorate.
Perspectives of Protests
The coalition agreement is not untypical for the European social democracy but the results are at the lower end. Open discontent has been voiced within the party. A quarter of the party leadership voted against the agreement – a lot for such a disciplined party. Especially the party youth has expressed their dismay. Social democratic trade unionists show discontent with the social policies. In recent years, Austrian trade unionists have taken an a bit more active line after they had lost access to the government and neo-corporatist institutions had been downgraded. They had slightly opened up to cooperation with organisations such as ATTAC. It remains to be seen what will come out of this more active line.Some union leaders would like to restore the old neo-corporatist system and a strong alignment with the social democrat party. Other social movements are not particularly strong in Austria though but protests have begun to play a more significant role in the political culture since the first ÖVP-FPÖ (right-wing, self-proclaimed Freedom Party in Austria) government was installed in 2000.
It is likely that FPÖ will gain in future elections because the social democrats abandon social issues. The FPÖ election campaign was already built on social demagogy. The governing parties do not confront the xenophobia of the FPÖ. On the contrary, they enter the same field of discourse. For example, the FPÖ prominently used anti-Turkish and anti-Islamic slogans in its recent election campaign. SPÖ and ÖVP demonstrate strong reservations about Turkey’s eventual entry into EU as well. Other than the decision on an EU constitution, they even promise a referendum on this issue. All of this paves the way for a surge of the far-right.
Joachim Becker is a university professor and an analyst of the Institute for Studies in Political Economy (IPE) in Vienna
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