The Austrian Parliament (german: Österreichisches Parlament) is the
bicameral
Bicameralism is a type of legislature, one divided into two separate assemblies, chambers, or houses, known as a bicameral legislature. Bicameralism is distinguished from unicameralism, in which all members deliberate and vote as a single grou ...
federal
legislature
A legislature is an assembly with the authority to make law
Law is a set of rules that are created and are enforceable by social or governmental institutions to regulate behavior,Robertson, ''Crimes against humanity'', 90. with its p ...
of the
Austrian Republic
Austria, , bar, Östareich officially the Republic of Austria, is a country in the southern part of Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine states, one of which is the capital, Vienna, the most populous ci ...
. It consists of two chambers – the
National Council and the
Federal Council. In specific cases, both houses convene as the
Federal Assembly. The legislature meets in the
Austrian Parliament Building in
Vienna
en, Viennese
, iso_code = AT-9
, registration_plate = W
, postal_code_type = Postal code
, postal_code =
, timezone = CET
, utc_offset = +1
, timezone_DST ...
.
Overview
The
National Council is composed of 183 members elected through
proportional representation
Proportional representation (PR) refers to a type of electoral system under which subgroups of an electorate are reflected proportionately in the elected body. The concept applies mainly to geographical (e.g. states, regions) and political divis ...
in a general election. The legislative period lasts five years, elections are held earlier if the National Council prematurely moves for its own dissolution. The National Council is the dominant (albeit 'lower') house in the Austrian Parliament, and consequently the terms ''Parliament'' and ''National Council'' are commonly used synonymously.
The
Federal Council is elected indirectly, through the provincial assemblies (''
Landtag
A Landtag (State Diet) is generally the legislative assembly or parliament of a federated state or other subnational self-governing entity in German-speaking nations. It is usually a unicameral assembly exercising legislative competence in non- ...
e'') of the nine
States of the Federal Republic, and reflects the
distribution of seats in the Austrian Landtage
The Austrian Landtage are the unicameral legislatures of the nine Austrian states, according to the Constitution of Austria deciding in all matters unless explicitly subject of federal legislation. On federal level the ''Landtage'' are represente ...
. The states are represented in the Federal Council roughly in accordance to the size of their populations. Seats are redistributed among the states following each general census, and the overall size of the chamber varies slightly as a result. The current Federal Council is composed of 61 delegates. With regard to most issues, the Federal Council only possesses a dilatory right of veto which can be overridden by the National Council. However, the Federal Council enjoys absolute veto powers over bills intended to alter the powers of either the states, or of the Federal Council itself.
The
Federal Assembly (''Bundesversammlung'') is a body whose function is mostly ceremonial in nature, and consists of the members of both houses of Parliament. The Federal Assembly convenes only rarely, for instance to witness the inauguration of the
Federal President. It might be noted, however, that under exceptional circumstances the
Austrian constitution
The Constitution of Austria (german: Österreichische Bundesverfassung) is the body of all constitutional law of the Republic of Austria on the federal level. It is split up over many different acts. Its centerpiece is the Federal Constitutional ...
endows the Federal Assembly with significant responsibilities. An example of this would be its pivotal role in the hypothetical impeachment of a
Federal President.
Both houses of Parliament, as well as the Federal Assembly, convene in the
Parliament building located on
Vienna's Ringstraße
The Vienna Ring Road (german: Ringstraße, lit. ''ring road'') is a 5.3 km (3.3 mi) circular grand boulevard that serves as a ring road around the historic Innere Stadt (Inner Town) district of Vienna, Austria. The road is located on sites where ...
. From 2017 to 2020 they convened in the
Redoute Wing of the Hofburg due to a reconstruction of the Parliament building.
See also
*
Constitution of Austria
The Constitution of Austria (german: Österreichische Bundesverfassung) is the body of all constitutional law of the Republic of Austria on the federal level. It is split up over many different acts. Its centerpiece is the Federal Constitutional ...
*
Austrian Parliament Building
*
Imperial Council (Austria)
The Imperial Council (german: Reichsrat; cs, Říšská rada, links=yes; pl, Rada Państwa, links=yes; it, Consiglio Imperiale, links=yes; sl, Državni zbor, links=yes; uk, Райхсрат, Державна рада, links=yes; bs, Carevins ...
, the legislature between 1861 and 1918
*
Imperial Diet (Austria)
The Austrian Reichstag ("National Diet" or "Imperial Diet" in German), or Kremsier Parliament (Assembly at Kroměříž), was the first elected parliament in the Austrian Empire. It lasted for only a short time between July 1848 and 7 March 1849, b ...
, 1848–1849
References
External links
The Austrian Parliament - Official Homepage (Engl. version)Austrian Parliament National Council Seating (DE version)Austrian Parliament Federal Council Seating (DE version)
{{Coord, 48, 12, 29, N, 16, 21, 33, E, source:kolossus-plwiki, display=title
Bicameral legislatures
National legislatures
Parliaments by country
Parliament
In modern politics, and history, a parliament is a legislative body of government. Generally, a modern parliament has three functions: Representation (politics), representing the Election#Suffrage, electorate, making laws, and overseeing ...