National Council (Austria)

The National Council (in Austrian German called Nationalrat) is one of the two parts of the Austrian Parliament. People often call it the lower house. According to the constitution, the National Council has much more power than the other part, called the Federal Council. It plays a very important role in making laws and decisions for Austria.

Responsibilities

The National Council is the main group in Austria that decides on laws. For a law to be official, it must first be approved by the National Council. After that, the law goes to the Federal Council to check it. If the Federal Council agrees or waits for eight weeks without doing anything, the law is allowed. If the Federal Council says no, the National Council can still make the law by voting again with more people.

There are a few special cases where things are different, like laws about changing the constitution or the rights of the Federal Council itself. The National Council also has to agree before certain important actions can happen, like asking the public to vote to remove the President or declaring war. These actions need a big majority in the National Council to go forward.

Main articles: Federal Assembly, referendum, declare war, impeach

Elections

The 183 members of the National Council are chosen by people all over Austria who are sixteen or older, and they serve for five years. These elections are called general elections. The way people vote helps choose members from different parties using a system called party-list proportional representation.

When people vote, their votes are first counted in small areas called local districts. Each local district has a certain number of seats based on how many people live there. If a party gets enough votes in a local district, their candidates can win seats. Sometimes, if there are still seats left after counting local votes, the votes are looked at again in bigger regional areas, and finally, if needed, at the national level to make sure all seats are filled. Voters can also choose to support a specific person from a party list, which can change the order of candidates and help some people get elected.

Peculiarities

In Austria, the President is officially the head of the government, but the National Council holds most of the real power. The Chancellor and the Cabinet, who do the daily work of running the country, need the support of the National Council to stay in office. Even though the President could choose ministers or dissolve the National Council, this rarely happens because the National Council can remove leaders it does not support.

Because of this, Austria works more like a parliamentary system, where the National Council has a big say in who leads the government. The President of the National Council is an important role in theory, but in practice, the Chancellor is the main political leader. The President of the National Council mainly helps manage discussions in the parliament.

Latest election

Main article: 2024 Austrian legislative election

The latest election for the National Council took place in 2024. The results showed how many seats each state in Austria contributed to the council.

State	FPÖ		ÖVP		SPÖ		NEOS		Grüne		Others		Turnout
	%	S	%	S	%	S	%	S	%	S	%	S
Burgenland	28.8	2	28.6	2	27.0	1	6.5	-	4.7	-	4.4	-	82.5
Carinthia	38.4	4	20.8	2	23.1	2	7.8	-	4.7	-	5.2	-	76.9
Lower Austria	29.2	10	29.9	11	20.2	7	8.5	3	6.7	2	5.5	-	82.0
Upper Austria	30.5	9	26.3	8	20.3	6	8.3	2	8.4	2	6.2	-	80.1
Salzburg	27.7	3	31.6	3	16.8	1	9.0	-	8.5	-	6.4	-	78.4
Styria	32.2	8	27.0	7	18.6	5	8.2	2	7.6	2	6.4	-	78.5
Tyrol	28.7	4	31.0	4	15.4	2	10.6	1	8.1	1	6.2	-	74.3
Vorarlberg	27.1	2	29.1	2	13.1	1	12.6	1	11.4	-	6.7	-	71.8
Vienna	20.7	6	17.4	5	29.9	9	11.4	3	12.3	4	8.3	-	71.9
Nationwide	—N/a	9	—N/a	7	—N/a	7	—N/a	6	—N/a	5	—N/a	-	—N/a
Austria	28.8	57	26.3	51	21.1	41	9.1	18	8.2	16	6.4	-	77.7
Source: Interior Ministry

Historical composition of the National Council

1919-1930

The National Council of Austria had its first elections in 1919 after the country became a new republic. During this time from 1919 to 1930, different groups of people were represented in the council as the country worked to build its government.

Since 1945

After World War II, Austria began to rebuild its government again in 1945. Since then, the National Council has continued to have elections where people choose their representatives. The makeup of the council has changed over the years based on the votes of the Austrian people.

Current composition of the National Council

Main article: List of members of the National Council of Austria

The National Council is one half of Austria’s Parliament, often called the lower house. It has more power than the other half, known as the Federal Council. The members of the National Council are chosen by people in Austria to represent them and help make important decisions for the country.