Five more years in opposition? The Austrian Greens in the 2013 parliamentary election

摘要

In the national election on 29 September 2013, the Austrian Greens achieved the best result in their 30-year history. Die Gruenen - Die Gruene Alternative ('The Greens - The Green Alternative') won 12.4% of the votes and secured 24 out of 183 seats in the Nationalrat, the directly elected and only relevant chamber of the bicameral national parliament. The election was notable for delivering the lowest ever vote share for the two traditional parties, the Social Democrats (SPO; 26.8%) and the conservative OEVP (24.0%), who nevertheless retained their combined majority. The 'winner' of the election was the right-wing populist FPO (20.5%), while its splinter BZOE (3.5%) fell below the 4% threshold. Two new parties - the populist Team Stronach (5.7%) and the liberal NEOS (5.0%) - achieved parliamentary representation (Dolezal and Zeglovits 2014). Many features of the Austrian Greens' programme, as well as the demographic characteristics and attitudes of their voters (see Dolezal 2010), make them typical of the Green party family. Having achieved double-digit shares in three consecutive national elections, they are clearly amongst the most successful Green parties worldwide. Unlike their sister parties in Germany, France, Finland, or Belgium, however, the Austrians still lack government experience at the national level. A renewed grand coalition of the SPO and OVP after the 2013 election again consigned the Greens to the opposition benches.