Austria: Regional Elections in the Shadow of National Politics

Abstract

Austria is one of the older federal states in Europe. The study of Austrian federalism was initially a domain of constitutional scholars until political science began to enhance federalism research from the late 1960s onward. Political scientists have studied the characteristics of regional political systems, its institutions and party systems, and the evolution of regional identities (e.g. Bußjäger, 2004, 2007, 2008; Bußjäger, Karlhofer and Pallaver, 2008, 2010; Dachs, 1992, 2003, 2006a, 2006b, 2008; Dachs, Fallend and Wolfsgruber, 1997; Dachs and Wolfgruber 2000; Erk, 2004, 2008; Fallend, 1997, 2004, 2006a, 2006b; Luther, 1986, 1989, 1991; Kriechbaumer, 1998; Plasser and Ulram, 2003). Another established research theme is the study of regional elections. Reports on the latest regional elections can be found in the yearbook Österreichisches Jahrbuch für Politik or in edited books on Austrian elections (e.g. Dachs and Wolfsgruber, 2000; Karlhofer and Seeber, 2000). Homing in on the topic of this chapter, the comparison of national and regional parliamentary elections over the long term, a collection of studies edited by Dachs (2006a) describes early regional election campaigns (1945— 1970) and discusses the importance of national issues in these elections. Longitudinal studies of electoral behavior in national parliamentary elections at the level of the Länder have been conducted by Jenny (2007) and Campbell (2007).