Elections in Austria

Instruments of Direct Democracy

The Austrian legal system is endued with three different instruments of direct democracy: Referenda (“Volksabstimmung”), public opinion polls (“Volksbefragung”) and public initiatives (“Volksbegehren”). Austrian legislation strongly supports the active participation of the electorate in all kinds of decision-making processes. Direct democracy mechanisms were first introduced into the national legal framework in 1920. The instrument of public opinion polls was implemented in 1989. To date, no public opinion polls have been carried out. Public initiatives have proven to receive strong interest and support by the public. Since 1963, when the Public Initiatives Act went into force, 34 such initiatives have taken place. In the 2nd Republic, two referenda have been carried out.

 

Federal Ministry of the Interior
Department III/6 - Electoral Affairs
P.O. Box 100, A-1014 Vienna
Phone: +43-(0)1-53126-2464
e-mail: wahl@bmi.gv.at