Austria

Any future Austrian government must implement institutional reforms to adapt the country to ongoing and emerging challenges, expectations, and demands. Several key areas stand out: The first area, central to the governance structure, involves creating more effective planning units and additional interministerial decision-making structures. These are necessary to address complex and cross-cutting “wicked” issues that transcend traditional policy boundaries.

Second, sorting out the intra-power structure of the Austrian federation to facilitate more coherent policies and increased political accountability stands out as a case for institutional reform.

Third, safeguarding the sustainability and high standards of old-age pensions and health policies – particularly in terms of the population’s access to publicly financed treatment – will be another set of challenges for future Austrian governments.

Fourth, civic education, aimed at improving political knowledge and “democratic competence” to meet digital-age standards, stands out as another area in need of reform. Notably, the change in the minimum voting age from 18 to 16 years in 2007 was not followed by any significant reforms in civic education. Furthermore, the integration of migrant or second-generation migrant students into the regular school system poses an additional educational challenge.

Fifth, guaranteeing a reasonable level of media pluralism and defending “critical journalism” against “infotainment” and populist agitation will need to be high on the agenda of future governments and other decision-makers. Despite the well-known difficulties involved, this will also need to include attempts to establish a viable regime for controlling violations of human dignity in social media.

At the top of future governments’ priority lists will have to be the complex challenges of climate policy. More ambitious measures are needed to meet the self-set standards of climate and biodiversity policy.

Similarly, the fight against populism that threatens to erode democracy must figure prominently in the future. As is the case in many mature democracies today, populism, fueled by vague but widespread forms of discontent, is on the rise in Austria as well, shaking the decades-old pillars of liberal democracy.

Lastly, combating inflation remains a significant issue for Austria. Inflation in Austria has been considerably higher than in most other European Union member states. Early in 2023, Austria’s inflation rate exceeded 11%, and projections for late 2024 still show the country well above the EU average.

Beyond potential institutional reform in the narrow sense, a key factor determining the fate of sustainable policies in Austria will be effective government communication – effective less in terms of securing and maintaining power, and more in terms of generating genuine trust and legitimacy for possibly unpopular decisions. In terms of content, a stronger focus should be placed on issues of sustainability. There continues to be widespread confusion in Austria between a love of nature and extended outdoor activities, such as hiking and skiing, on the one hand, and nature and climate preservation, including all the sacrifices this may imply, on the other hand.

Several challenges are unlikely to be solved by sweeping institutional reform or simple changes in strategy. At this level, arguably the most important issue concerns the idea of democracy among Austrians, which remains strikingly exclusive. A large majority of Austrian citizens favor keeping the acquisition of Austrian nationality – a prerequisite for full political participation rights – difficult and demanding. Additionally, a majority of Austrians strongly oppose granting equal political rights to long-term residents from other EU member states.

Given the changing patterns of the overall population living in Austria, it seems timely to expand the political rights of Austria’s non-Austrian resident population. Relatedly, Austria’s continued economic success will largely depend on its ability to attract young, qualified people and retain those who are already here. Among many other factors, achieving this would require overcoming Austria’s latently xenophobic image among future potential migrants.