List of political parties in Austria

This article lists political parties in Austria. Austria has a multi-party system. Of the over 700 registered parties, only few are known to a larger public; since the 1980s, four parties have consistently received enough votes to get seats in the national parliament.

The parties

Current parties in parliament

*Alliance for the Future of Austria ("Bündnis Zukunft Österreich") (BZÖ) - led by Jörg Haider, the BZÖ is a far-right, populist party which broke away from the Freedom Party. It participated in the government until 1/2007.

*Freedom Party of Austria ("Freiheitliche Partei Österreichs") (FPÖ) - populist party considered by its critics to be a far-right party. After the 1999 elections, it joined the government but has since lost the support it gained in those elections.

*The Greens – The Green Alternative ("Die Grünen – Die Grüne Alternative") (Grüne) - environmentalist party which is represented on national level.

*Liberal Forum ("Liberales Forum") (LiF) - a liberal party which broke away from the Freedom Party, it had since lost all seats on a national level; in 2006, it entered an electoral alliance with the SPÖ and got their chairman, Alexander Zach, into parliament this way.

*Austrian People's Party ("Österreichische Volkspartei") (ÖVP) - more traditional conservative party, the post-war heir of the Christian Social Party. It has alternated in power post-war with the Social Democratic Party. Since 1/2007 it is in coalition with the SPÖ.

*Social Democratic Party of Austria ("Sozialdemokratische Partei Österreichs") (SPÖ) - traditional social-democratic party, alternating in power post-war with the People's Party. Since 1/2007 it is in coalition with the ÖVP.

Current parties formerly in parliament

*Communist Party of Austria ("Kommunistische Partei Österreichs") (KPÖ) - once a relatively significant force in national and provincial level, it declined markedly after the 1950s. However, in 2005 it returned to the provincial legislature in Styria for the first time since 1970.

Current minor parties

*Animal Rights Party ("Tierrechtspartei") (TRP)
*Black-Yellow Alliance ("Schwarz-Gelbe Allianz") (SGA)
*Certainly – Absolutely – Independent ("Sicher – Absolut – Unabhängig") (SAU)
*Christian Electoral Community ("Christliche Wählergemeinschaft") (CWG)
*The Christians ("Die Christen") (DC)
*Citizens' Forum ("Bürgerforum") (FRITZ)
*Initiativ€2000 (IVE)
*Left ("Linke") (LINKE)
*Neutral Free Austria ("Neutrales Freies Österreich") (NFÖ)
*Pirate Party of Austria ("Piratenpartei Österreichs") (PPÖ)
*Save Austria ("Rettet Österreich") (RETTÖ)
*Socialist Left Party ("Sozialistische LinksPartei") (SLP)
*The Social Liberals ("Die Sozialliberalen") (SoL)
*Enotna Lista ("Unity List", party of the Carinthian Slovenians) (EL)

Minor historical contemporary parties

*The Democrats ("Die Demokraten")
*The Independents ("Die Unabhängigen") (DU)
*No to NATO and EU ("Nein zu NATO und EU")

Major historical parties

*Christian Social Party ("Christlichsoziale Partei") (CSP)
*Country League ("Landbund")
*Fatherland's Front ("Vaterländische Front") (VF)
*Federation of Independents ("Verband der Unabhängigen") (VdU)
*Greater German People's Party ("Großdeutsche Volkspartei") (GDVP)
*National Socialist German Workers Party ("Nationalsozialistische Deutsche Arbeiterpartei") (Nazi Party)
*Social Democratic Workers Party of Austria ("Sozialdemokratische Arbeiterpartei Österreichs") (SDAPÖ, now SPÖ)

Minor historical parties

*Communist League of Austria ("Kommunistischer Bund Österreichs") (KBÖ)
*League of Democratic Socialists ("Bund Demokratischer Sozialisten") (BDS)
*Marxist-Leninist Party of Austria ("Marxistisch-Leninistische Partei Österreichs") (MLPÖ)
*Union of Revolutionary Workers of Austria (Marxist-Leninist) ("Vereinigung Revolutionärer Arbeiter Österreichs (Marxisten-Leninisten)") (VRAÖ)

External links of some other minor parties

* [http://de.dir.yahoo.com/staedte_und_laender/laender/oesterreich/staat_und_politik/politik/parteien/ Yahoo Deutschland Parties directory Austria]
* [http://members.chello.at/autopartei/ Autofahrerpartei official web site] (Car Drivers' Party)
* [http://members.magnet.at/cwg/ Christliche Wählergemeinschaft official web site] (Christian Voters'Community)
* [http://www.arbeiterinnenstandpunkt.net/ ArbeiterInnenstandpunkt official web site] (Workers' Standpoint Group)
* [http://members.chello.at/leopartei/ Liste der EU-Opposition official web site] (List of the EU-Opposition)
* [http://members.aon.at/npoe/ Nationaldemokratischen Partei Österreichs official web site] (National Democratic Party of Austria)
* [http://www.oekoli.cjb.net/ Ökologische Linke official web site] (Ecological Left)
* [http://www.oenp.or.at/ Österreichische Naturgesetzpartei official web site] (Austrian Nautal Law Party)
* [http://www.hundepartei.at/ Partei der Hundefreunde Österreichs official web site] (Dog Friends Party of Austria)
* [http://www.leninist-current.org/rkl Revolutionär Kommunistische Liga official web site] (Revolutionary Communist League)

ee also

* Index of political parties to browse parties by name
* List of political parties to browse parties by country
* List of political parties by ideology to browse parties by name
* Membership of internationals to browse parties by membership of internationals
* History of Austria
* Liberalism in Austria

Further reading

* cite journal
quotes =
last = Müller
first = Wolfgang
authorlink =
coauthors = and Franz Fallend
date =
year = 2004
month = November
title = Changing Patterns of Party Competition in Austria: From Multipolar to Bipolar System
journal = West European Politics
volume = 27
issue = 5
pages = 801–835
issn =
pmid =
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language =
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