Towards stratarchy? European integration and the intra-party power of Austrian MEPs and delegation leaders

'Dieser Artikel untersucht die Auswirkung der EU-Mitgliedschaft auf die binnenparteiliche Macht österreichischer MEPs und Delegationsleiter. Er bietet eine erste Bewertung der österreich-spezifischen Daten der ersten systematischen und multinationalen Untersuchung der organisatorischen Anpassung sämtlicher 'relevanter' politischer Parteien Westeuropas an die europäische Integration. Die hauptsächliche Datenquelle bildet der vom Autor zwischen 2004 und 2005 durchgeführte österreichische Teil der standardisierten Umfrage eines multinationalen Projekts. Die Befunde werden weiter mittels Einsichten verdichtet, die der Autor aus mehreren für dasselbe Projekt mit österreichischen Parteieliten durchgeführten semi-strukturierten Interviews gewonnen hat (ebenfalls zwischen 2004 und 2005). Der Aufsatz befasst sich vor allem mit der Selektion von MEPs und Delegationsleitern, mit ihren politischen Karrieren vor und nach Aufnahme ihrer EU-Rolle sowie mit der Autonomie, die sie gegenüber ihren Parteien haben, wenn sie auf EU-Ebene tätig sind. In diesem Zusammenhang werden u.a. die ex ante und ex post Verantwortlichkeitsmechanismen sowie ihre Handlungsfreiheit untersucht. Der Artikel kommt zu dem Ergebnis, dass MEPs und Delegationsleiter, wenn sie auf EU-Ebene tätig sind, gegenüber ihren parteilichen 'Principals' beträchtliche Autonomie genießen, diese jedoch nur selten in breitere innerparteiliche Macht umwandeln können.' (Autorenreferat)'This article examines the impact of Austrian membership of the European Union on the intra-party power of MEP5 and EP delegation leaders. It provides a preliminary evaluation of the Austrian part of the first systematic cross-national study of politically 'relevant' west European parties' organizational adaptation to European integration. The main data source is the Austrian part of that study's standardised postal questionnaire, administered by the author to selected party elites in 2004 and 2005. Those findings are complemented by insights derived from the in-depth semi-structured interviews with Austrian party elites which he conducted for the study during the same period. The paper concentrates on MEP and delegation leader selection; these actors' career paths before and after their EU-level role and on the degree of autonomy from their party which MEPs and delegation leaders enjoy when acting at the EU level. This involves considering ex ante and ex post accountability mechanisms to which they are subjected, as well as their levels of discretion. The article finds that MEPs and delegation leaders enjoy considerable autonomy from their party principals when operating at the EU-level, but few are able to convert this into broader intra-party power.' (author's abstract

Federalism and Federation in Europe: A Comparative Study of The Germanic Tradition

Merged with duplicate record 10026.1/1656 on 27.02.2017 by CS (TIS)This thesis defines "federation" as a set of structures and techniques, by means of which the constituent members of a union are given guaranteed access to and are accommodated within the decision-procedure of the centre. Meanwhile, "federalism" is taken to signify the philosophical, or ideological prescription, or promotion, of such a union. The thesis commences by identifying the major shortcomings of the Anglo-Saxon academic literature on federation for a comparative analysis of federalism and federation in Austria, Switzerland and Germany. The two main aims of the thesis are then outlined. These are first, to identify the nature of the tradition of federalism in Austria, Switzerland and Germany. The second is to illustrate, by reference to the period immediately preceding the crystallisation of the party systems of those countries, the use of federalism as a political ideology. These aims are fulfiled in Parts 2 & 3 of the thesis. By means of its systematic, comparative analysis of federalism in Austria, Switzerland and Germany from the early sixteenth century until 1850, the thesis develops a typology of federalism, which permits it to identify the six “dimensions" of a distinctive, "Germanic”, tradition of federalism. Second, the detailed analysis in the thesis of the use of federalism during the first half of the nineteenth century shows how, within existing federations, a wide range of political groupings constituting the antecedents of modern political parties availed themselves of federalism for the promotion of their political aims. Amongst the conclusions of Part 4 of the thesis is that more attention should be devoted to the study of the interaction of federalism and federation and in particular, to how federalism is utilised by politial parties, both to legitimate and to reform federations.University of Leicester, Dept. of Politic

"From populist protest to incumbency: The strategic challenges facing Jörg Haider's Freedom Party of Austria (FPO)"

[This paper] will restrict itself above all to a consideration of the Freedom Party's role in Austria's electoral market, as well to the party's internal organization and elite recruitment. We will in respect of both aspects first seek to establish how and with which strategic orientation the party operated in the period(s) prior to its entry into government. Thereafter, we will identify the most important challenges and strategic dilemmas that the FPÖ will have to address as a consequence of its entry into Austria's federal government. Since it is only just over a year since this radical change in the party's political circumstances, it is as yet too early to be sure about the extent to which the structures and behaviors that the party employed prior to February 2000 remain appropriate for the period of governmental responsibility. There has also been only a relatively short period of time to observe any possible changes in the party's electoral and organizational profile. Accordingly, this paper's assessment of the strategic and organizational challenges facing the FPÖ is thus necessarily provisional

The self-destruction of right-wing populism? Austria's election of 24th November 2002

Includes bibliographical referencesSIGLEAvailable from British Library Document Supply Centre- DSC:9349. 63475(16) / BLDSC - British Library Document Supply CentreGBUnited Kingdo