Politics of Austria

The ethnically and culturally homogenous nation state of Austria is the small but prosperous remnant of Austria-Hungary, a vast multinational empire that ceased to exist in 1918. Having been an authoritarian monarchy with a thin veil of constitutionality until then, Austria embarked on a first attempt at republican governance in the years following the collapse of the empire. This attempt quickly failed; Austria's First Republic (1918-1938) gradually degenerated into an clerical fascist dictatorship between 1933 and 1934 and eventually embraced National Socialist totalitarianism in 1938. Following the defeat of National Socialism in 1945, however, Austria began to incrementally evolve into a bona fide liberal democracy. As of the beginning of the twenty-first century, Austria's Second Republic presents itself as a stable federal republic with a written constitution, governed according to the principles of representative democracy and the rule of law. The constitutional framework of the Politics of Austria and the marrow of the constitution's practical implementation are widely agreed to be robust and adequately conducive to peaceful change.

Related Topics:
Nation state - Austria - Austria-Hungary - Empire - 1918 - Authoritarian - Monarchy - Constitutionality - Republican - Clerical fascist - Dictatorship - 1933 - 1934 - National Socialist - Totalitarianism - 1938 - 1945 - Liberal democracy - Federal republic - Written constitution - Representative democracy - Rule of law

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