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Twenty-First Century Populism: The Spectre of Western European ...

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68 <strong>Twenty</strong>-<strong>First</strong> <strong>Century</strong> <strong>Populism</strong><br />

emergence <strong>of</strong> the FPÖ under Jörg Haider as a rightwing populist (middleclass)<br />

protest party was defined by its radical opposition to the characteristics<br />

intrinsic to Austrian consociationalism (see Table 5.1 below).<br />

Political organization<br />

In terms <strong>of</strong> political organization, the Austrian model was designed to internalize<br />

political, economic and social conflict by creating three intersecting<br />

institutional frameworks (Lehmbruch, 1967; Katzenstein, 1984):<br />

1. the state institutions and administrative bureaucracy;<br />

2. the institutions <strong>of</strong> Austro-corporatism, and, as the overarching bracket;<br />

3. the two major political parties, Social Democrats (SPÖ) and the Conservative<br />

People’s Party (ÖVP) along with their affiliated networks.<br />

A systemic feature known as Proporz allocated shares <strong>of</strong> political influence<br />

proportionally between the major two parties, not only ensuring their control<br />

over the country’s political institutions, the bureaucracy, labour market<br />

associations and public enterprises, but also extending to all areas <strong>of</strong> public<br />

life. What Gehrhard Lehmbruch (1967) dubbed ‘Proporzdemokratie’ reinforced<br />

the hegemony <strong>of</strong> the two main parties to the almost complete exclusion <strong>of</strong><br />

all other political actors. <strong>The</strong> power <strong>of</strong> the SPÖ and ÖVP rested also on their<br />

enormous membership and the elaborate patronage system associated with<br />

Proporz. Its various features became the prime target <strong>of</strong> sustained populist<br />

campaigns by the Freedom Party in the 1980s and 1990s. More than any<br />

other aspect <strong>of</strong> Austrian politics, it allowed the FPÖ to define itself as a<br />

Table 5.1 <strong>The</strong> Freedom Party in Austrian<br />

parliamentary elections (selection)<br />

Year Vote % Seats<br />

1956 6.5 6<br />

1966 5.4 6<br />

1975 5.4 10<br />

1983 5.0 12<br />

1986 9.7 18<br />

1990 16.6 33<br />

1994 22.5 42<br />

1995 22.0 41<br />

1999 26.9 52<br />

2002 10.0 18<br />

2006 11.0 21<br />

Source: Bundesministerium für Inneres.

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