The Austrian Parliament () is the

bicameral Bicameralism is a type of legislature that is divided into two separate Deliberative assembly, assemblies, chambers, or houses, known as a bicameral legislature. Bicameralism is distinguished from unicameralism, in which all members deliberate ...

federal

legislature A legislature (, ) is a deliberative assembly with the legal authority to make laws for a political entity such as a country, nation or city on behalf of the people therein. They are often contrasted with the executive and judicial power ...

Austria Austria, formally the Republic of Austria, is a landlocked country in Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine Federal states of Austria, states, of which the capital Vienna is the List of largest cities in Aust ...

. 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 The Austrian Parliament Building (, colloquially ''das Parlament'') in Vienna is the meeting place of the two houses of the Austrian Parliament. The building is located on the in the first district, ''Innere Stadt'', near Hofburg Palace and t ...

Vienna Vienna ( ; ; ) is the capital city, capital, List of largest cities in Austria, most populous city, and one of Federal states of Austria, nine federal states of Austria. It is Austria's primate city, with just over two million inhabitants. ...

Overview

The National Council is composed of 183 members elected through

proportional representation Proportional representation (PR) refers to any electoral system under which subgroups of an electorate are reflected proportionately in the elected body. The concept applies mainly to political divisions (Political party, political parties) amon ...

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 ...

e'') of the nine

States State most commonly refers to: * State (polity), a centralized political organization that regulates law and society within a territory **Sovereign state, a sovereign polity in international law, commonly referred to as a country **Nation state, a ...

of the Federal Republic, and reflects the

distribution of seats in the Austrian Landtage The Austrian provincial parliaments are the unicameral legislatures of the nine Austrian provinces, according to the Constitution of Austria deciding in all matters unless explicitly subject of federal legislation. On federal level the provincial ...

. 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 Federal Constitution of Austria () 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 Law (''Bundes-Verfassungsgesetz' ...

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 the

Vienna Ring Road The Ringstrasse or Ringstraße (pronounced �ɪŋˌʃtʁaːsə ⓘ, lit. ''ring road'') is a 5.3 km (3.3 mi) circular grand boulevard that serves as a ring road around the historic city centre, the Innere Stadt, of Vienna, Austria. The road is bu ...

. From 2017 to 2022 they convened in the Redoute Wing of the Hofburg due to a renovation of the parliament building.

References

External links

The Austrian Parliament - Official Homepage (Engl. version)Austrian Parliament National Council Seating (Germ. version)Austrian Parliament Federal Council Seating (Germ. 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 ...

Overview

See also

References

External links