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States of Austria
Austria is a federal republic consisting of nine states. The European Commission calls them provinces. Austrian states can pass laws that stay within the limits of the constitution, and each state has representatives in the Austrian federal parliament.
The majority of the land area in the states of Upper Austria, Lower Austria, Vienna, and Burgenland is situated in the Danube valley and thus consists almost completely of accessible and easily arable terrain. Austria's most densely populated state is Vienna, the heart of what is Austria's only metropolitan area. Lower Austria ranks only fourth in population density even though it contains Vienna's suburbs; this is due to large areas of land being predominantly agricultural. The alpine state Tyrol, the less alpine but geographically more remote state Carinthia, and the non-alpine but near-exclusively agricultural state Burgenland are Austria's least densely populated states. The wealthy alpine state Vorarlberg is something of an anomaly due to its small size, isolated location and distinct Alemannic culture.[citation needed]
Each Austrian state has an elected legislature, the state parliament, and a state government (Landesregierung) headed by a governor (Landeshauptmann or Landeshauptfrau). Elections are held every five years (six years in Upper Austria). The state constitution, among other things, determines how the seats in the state government are assigned to political parties, with most states having a system of proportional representation based on the number of delegates in the state parliament in place. The governor is elected by the state parliament, though in practice the governor is the leader of the majority party or coalition in the state parliament.
Vienna, the capital of Austria, plays a double role as a city and state. The mayor has the rank of a state governor, while the city council also functions as a state parliament. Under the municipal constitution, however, city and state business must be kept separate. Hence, while the city council and the state parliament have identical memberships, they hold separate meetings, and each body has separate presiding officers. When meeting as a city council, the deputies can only deal with city affairs; when meeting as a state parliament, they can only deal with affairs of the state.
Austrian federalism is largely theoretical, as the states are granted few legislative powers. Austria's constitution initially granted all legislative powers to the states, but many powers have been subsequently taken away, and only a few remain, such as planning and zoning codes, nature protection, hunting, fishing, farming, youth protection, certain issues of public health and welfare and the right to levy certain taxes.
All other matters, including but not limited to criminal law, civil law, corporate law, most aspects of economic law, defense, most educational matters and academia, telecommunications, and much of the healthcare system are regulated by national law. There is also no judiciary of the federal states, since Austria's constitution defines the judiciary as an exclusively national matter. This centralisation follows a historic model where central power during the time of the empire was largely concentrated in Vienna.
However, the state governor (Landeshauptmann) is in charge of the administration of much of federal administrative law within the respective province, which makes this post an important political position. Furthermore, state competences include zoning laws, planning issues and public procurement on the regional level, which adds considerable weight to state politics. As a practical matter, there have been cases where states have been able to delay projects endorsed by the national government, as in the case of the Semmering Base Tunnel, a railway tunnel being built under the Semmering.[citation needed]
Austrian states are formally and practically endowed with a much smaller degree of autonomy than American states or German lands. Even so, Austrians tend to identify passionately with their respective state and often defend what little independent governance their state has. It is not unheard of for Austrians to consider themselves, for instance, Tyrolean first, Austrian second.[citation needed]
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States of Austria
Austria is a federal republic consisting of nine states. The European Commission calls them provinces. Austrian states can pass laws that stay within the limits of the constitution, and each state has representatives in the Austrian federal parliament.
The majority of the land area in the states of Upper Austria, Lower Austria, Vienna, and Burgenland is situated in the Danube valley and thus consists almost completely of accessible and easily arable terrain. Austria's most densely populated state is Vienna, the heart of what is Austria's only metropolitan area. Lower Austria ranks only fourth in population density even though it contains Vienna's suburbs; this is due to large areas of land being predominantly agricultural. The alpine state Tyrol, the less alpine but geographically more remote state Carinthia, and the non-alpine but near-exclusively agricultural state Burgenland are Austria's least densely populated states. The wealthy alpine state Vorarlberg is something of an anomaly due to its small size, isolated location and distinct Alemannic culture.[citation needed]
Each Austrian state has an elected legislature, the state parliament, and a state government (Landesregierung) headed by a governor (Landeshauptmann or Landeshauptfrau). Elections are held every five years (six years in Upper Austria). The state constitution, among other things, determines how the seats in the state government are assigned to political parties, with most states having a system of proportional representation based on the number of delegates in the state parliament in place. The governor is elected by the state parliament, though in practice the governor is the leader of the majority party or coalition in the state parliament.
Vienna, the capital of Austria, plays a double role as a city and state. The mayor has the rank of a state governor, while the city council also functions as a state parliament. Under the municipal constitution, however, city and state business must be kept separate. Hence, while the city council and the state parliament have identical memberships, they hold separate meetings, and each body has separate presiding officers. When meeting as a city council, the deputies can only deal with city affairs; when meeting as a state parliament, they can only deal with affairs of the state.
Austrian federalism is largely theoretical, as the states are granted few legislative powers. Austria's constitution initially granted all legislative powers to the states, but many powers have been subsequently taken away, and only a few remain, such as planning and zoning codes, nature protection, hunting, fishing, farming, youth protection, certain issues of public health and welfare and the right to levy certain taxes.
All other matters, including but not limited to criminal law, civil law, corporate law, most aspects of economic law, defense, most educational matters and academia, telecommunications, and much of the healthcare system are regulated by national law. There is also no judiciary of the federal states, since Austria's constitution defines the judiciary as an exclusively national matter. This centralisation follows a historic model where central power during the time of the empire was largely concentrated in Vienna.
However, the state governor (Landeshauptmann) is in charge of the administration of much of federal administrative law within the respective province, which makes this post an important political position. Furthermore, state competences include zoning laws, planning issues and public procurement on the regional level, which adds considerable weight to state politics. As a practical matter, there have been cases where states have been able to delay projects endorsed by the national government, as in the case of the Semmering Base Tunnel, a railway tunnel being built under the Semmering.[citation needed]
Austrian states are formally and practically endowed with a much smaller degree of autonomy than American states or German lands. Even so, Austrians tend to identify passionately with their respective state and often defend what little independent governance their state has. It is not unheard of for Austrians to consider themselves, for instance, Tyrolean first, Austrian second.[citation needed]