!!!Österreichische Volkspartei, ÖVP

Oesterreichische Volkspartei, OeVP (Austrian People's Party), founded 
in Vienna on April 17, 1945 by L.  Kunschak, H.  Pernter, L.  
Weinberger, L.  Figl, J.  Raab and F.  Hurdes. In 1945 the Austrian 
People's Party dissociated itself from its predecessor, the  Christian 
Social Party, with a clear declaration of faith in parliamentary 
democracy and the Austrian nation, but preserved continuity with 
respect to its leading personalities (party officials) and social 
structure (farmers, industrialists, civil servants and salaried 
employees as the main voters) as well as its ideological proximity to 
the Catholic church, which was, however, loosened in the course of 
time. Until the end of the 1960s the OeVP was successful in presenting 
itself as a middle-class omnibus party, which united various 
professional and trade groups and ideological tendencies 
(conservatism, liberalism, catholic social teachings).

\\
From November 1945 until March 1970 the OeVP controlled Austrian 
politics as the stronger government party of the grand coalition 
(1947-1966), supplying the federal chancellor and the most important 
ministers, and later as the first one-party government (1966-1970). 
The electoral defeat in 1970 initiated a 17-year-long opposition era 
(1970-1986), which ended with the formation of the second grand 
coalition with the SPOe ( Sozialdemokratische Partei Oesterreichs) in 
1987, this time, however, with the OeVP being the weaker coalition 
partner. In the elections to the Nationalrat in 1986 the OeVP lost 
some of their voters and the heavy losses in 1990 and 1994 reduced the 
OeVP to a medium-sized party, but it recovered some votes in 1995.

\\
At the 1999 general elections the OeVP managed to retain its seats but 
received fewer votes and was thus third behind the SPOe and the FPOe ( 
Freiheitliche Partei Oesterreichs). The OeVP nevertheless formed a 
coalition with the FPOe in 2000 and for the first time in 30 years the 
Federal Chancellor (W.  Schuessel) was drawn from the ranks of the 
OeVP.

\\
The strength of the OeVP lies on the provincial level: Since 1945 the 
OeVP has continuously provided the provincial governors in 6 federal 
provinces (Lower Austria, Upper Austria, Salzburg, Styria, Tirol, 
Vorarlberg), between 1945-1964 in Burgenland, in Carinthia 1991-1999. 
Since 1987, when the OeVP returned to the coalition government at the 
federal level, its position has also been weakened in the elections of 
provincial diets. On the municipal level it is still the dominant 
force in small rural communities.

\\
The first policy statement ("15 Guiding Principles", 1945) 
was followed by the "Salzburg Programme" in 1972, which was 
replaced by the New Policy Statement in 1995; in 1985 the 
"Manifesto for the Future" and further campaign and election 
programmes were drawn up. The spectrum of ideologies and opinions 
expressed therein is particularly broad and heterogeneous, and on 
economic, ecological or social and cultural questions views can often 
only be harmonised on a short-term basis.

\\
Structure and Organisation: The OeVP is structured according to 
territories and functions. The territorial organisation follows the 
levels of federal government, provinces, political districts, in some 
areas the judicial districts and municipalities; functionally, the 
party is made up of a number of "Buende" (federations). The 
3 traditional and most influential Buende are the  Bauernbund 
(Austrian Farmers´ Federation) (OeBB), the  Wirtschaftsbund 
(Austrian Economic Federation) (OeWB) and the  Arbeiter- und 
Angestelltenbund (Austrian Association of Wage Earners and Salaried 
Employees) (OeAAB). The other three component parts of the OeVP are 
the Oesterreichische Frauenbewegung (Austrian Women´s Movement - 
OeFB), the Junge OeVP (Young People´s Party - JVP) and the 
Oesterreichische Seniorenbund (Austrian Senior Citizens Association - 
OeSB), which were raised from the status of special organisations and 
specific administrative associations to formally equal 
sub-organisations in the 1970s. Important associated organisations 
include the Akademikerbund (Association of University Graduates), the 
Oesterreichische  Cartellverband and numerous Catholic groups with 
ideological or personal connections to the Party. The OeVP has the 
tightest network of local organisations of all Austrian parties and is 
represented in almost every region of Austria. The OeVP is based on 
indirect membership, i.e. membership is acquired mainly through 
membership of one of its sub-organisations and usually not through 
direct entry into the OeVP. In 1999 the party had a total membership 
of approx. 600,000. The OeWB, OeBB and OeAAB are independent 
associations and are almost completely autonomous due to their secure 
financial position. They collect membership fees through their 
provincial organisations and share them with the provincial and 
federal party organisations.

\\
Numerous attempts have been made to reorganise the relationship 
between the central party and its member organisations in order to 
redress the financial imbalance between the central party and the 
member organisations and on the other hand to generally lessen the 
latter´s influence, as they sometimes represent controversial 
ideas and hence prevent the central party from pursuing consistent 
policies based on consensus and projecting an image of unity. The 
introduction and further development of public party financing, 
reforms and the transformation of the political system (central role 
of the Chancellor in the democratic process and emphasis on media 
appeal) strengthen the central office against the federations.

\\
Following is a chronological list of federal party chairmen of the 
OeVP: L. Kunschak (1945), L. Figl (1945-1952), J. Raab (1952-1960), A. 
 Gorbach (1960-1963), J.  Klaus (1963-1970), H.  Withalm (1970/71), K. 
 Schleinzer (1971-1975), J.  Taus (1975-1979), A.  Mock (1979-89), J.  
Riegler (1989-1991), E.  Busek (1991-1995) and W.  Schuessel (since 
1995).

!Literature
L. Reichhold, Geschichte der OeVP, 1975; W. C. 
Mueller, Die Oesterreichische Volkspartei, in: Handbuch des 
politischen Systems Oe., 1991; R. Kriechbaumer and F. Schausberger 
(eds.), Volkspartei - Anspruch und Realitaet, 1995.


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