Opposition (116)
40-879: The National Council (Austrian German: Nationalrat , pronounced [nat͡si̯oˈnaːlˌʁaːt] ) is one of the two houses of the Austrian Parliament and is frequently referred to as the lower house . The constitution endows the National Council with far more power than the Federal Council . Wöginger • Rendi-Wagner • Kickl • Maurer • Meinl-Reisinger • [REDACTED] [REDACTED] [REDACTED] [REDACTED] [REDACTED] [REDACTED] [REDACTED] [REDACTED] [REDACTED] [REDACTED] [REDACTED] [REDACTED] [REDACTED] The National Council
80-425: A contingent election between the top two candidates. A constitutional convention developed that Congress would always elect the candidate with the most popular votes at a contingent election. In a television interview ahead of the 1964 Chilean presidential election , presidential candidate (and eventual winner) Eduardo Frei Montalva upheld this convention. However, this convention was nearly broken in 1970 , where
120-487: A parliamentary democracy : for all intents and purposes, the cabinet is subject to approval by the National Council and is responsible to it, with the president being little more than a figurehead. A related discrepancy between Austrian constitutional theory and Austrian political practice is that the constitution defines the President of the National Council to be Austria's second highest public official, junior only to
160-525: A semi-presidential democracy : the executive branch of government is supposed to be headed by the President , but is also answerable to the National Council. In practice, however, nearly all of the day-to-day work of governing is left to the Chancellor and Cabinet, which are dependent on the confidence of the National Council. The President has the theoretical right to name anyone eligible to serve in
200-482: A National Council resolution overruling a Federal Council objection merely has to meet a higher quorum than a regular resolution. In other words, the Federal Council does not have any real power to prevent adoption of legislation, the National Council being easily able to override it. There are three exceptions to this rule: The approval of the National Council is also required for most of the prerogatives of
240-415: A body of law known as constitutional law has existed for hundreds of years. As part of this uncodified British constitution , constitutional conventions play a key role. They are rules that are observed by the various constituted parts though they are not written in any document having legal authority; there are often underlying enforcing principles that are themselves not formal and codified. Nonetheless it
280-510: A general election. The legislative period lasts five years, elections are held earlier if the National Council prematurely moves for its own dissolution. The National Council is the dominant (albeit 'lower') house in the Austrian Parliament, and consequently the terms Parliament and National Council are commonly used synonymously. The Federal Council is elected indirectly, through the provincial assemblies ( Landtage ) of
320-410: A term of five years; each Austrian sixteen years or older on the day the election takes place is entitled to one vote. National Council elections are general elections . The voting system aims at party-list proportional representation and uses partially open lists : In addition to voting for a party list, voters may express preference for one individual candidate in the same party list. This means it
360-470: Is codified in the Spanish Constitution of 1978 , which formalizes the relationship between an independent constitutional monarchy , the government, and the legislature. However, the constitution invests the monarch as the "arbitrator and moderator of the institutions" of government. The following constitutional conventions are part of the political culture of Switzerland . They hold true at
400-467: Is followed by the institutions of a state. In some states, notably those Commonwealth of Nations states that follow the Westminster system and whose political systems derive from British constitutional law , most government functions are guided by constitutional convention rather than by a formal written constitution. In these states, actual distribution of power may be markedly different from those
440-420: Is not possible to simultaneously vote for the party list of one party but exert influence on the candidate rankings on the party list of another party. A candidate receiving sufficiently many personal votes can rise in rank on his or her district party list; voters thus have a certain degree of influence as to which particular individual wins which particular seat. Austria's federal constitution defines Austria as
SECTION 10
#1732772379460480-588: Is regarded as authoritative in a number of other jurisdictions, including the UK. Some conventions evolve or change over time. For example, before 1918 the British Cabinet requested a parliamentary dissolution from the monarch, with the Prime Minister conveying the request. Between 1918 and 2011, Prime Ministers requested dissolutions on their own initiative, and were not required to consult members of
520-676: Is the bicameral federal legislature of Austria . It consists of two chambers – the National Council and the Federal Council . In specific cases, both houses convene as the Federal Assembly . The legislature meets in the Austrian Parliament Building in Vienna . (joint session of both houses) The National Council is composed of 183 members elected through proportional representation in
560-468: Is where Austria's federal legislative authority is concentrated; for a bill to become federal law, it must be resolved upon by this chamber. Bills passed by the National Council are sent to the Federal Council for corroboration. If the Federal Council approves of the bill or simply does nothing for eight weeks, the bill has succeeded. If the Federal Council vetoes the bill, the National Council may still force it into law by essentially just passing it again;
600-404: The Federal Assembly to be exercised. For example, motions to call for a referendum aimed at having the President removed from office by the electorate, and motions to declare war all need a two-thirds majority in the National Council. Only motions to impeach the President can also be from the Federal Council. The 183 members of the National Council are elected by nationwide popular vote for
640-596: The Vienna Ring Road . From 2017 to 2022 they convened in the Redoute Wing of the Hofburg due to a renovation of the parliament building. 48°12′29″N 16°21′33″E / 48.20806°N 16.35917°E / 48.20806; 16.35917 Constitutional convention (political custom) A convention (also known as a constitutional convention ) is an informal and uncodified tradition that
680-403: The 1950s, it had also become a convention that elections should be held on the last Saturday of November, or the closest date to this range as possible. There are several times when these conventions have been broken and an election has been held several months earlier: Because of the 1814 written constitution's pivotal role in providing independence and establishing democracy in the 19th century,
720-512: The Cabinet (although, at the very least, it would have been unusual for the Cabinet not to be aware of the Prime Minister's intention). In 2024 Prime Minister Rishi Sunak reportedly announced his intention to hold an early election in July 2024 without even informing most of his cabinet prior to the announcement. However, conventions are rarely ever broken. Unless there is general agreement on
760-492: The Federal Council only possesses a dilatory right of veto which can be overridden by the National Council. However, the Federal Council enjoys absolute veto powers over bills intended to alter the powers of either the states, or of the Federal Council itself. The Federal Assembly ( Bundesversammlung ) is a body whose function is mostly ceremonial in nature, and consists of the members of both houses of Parliament. The Federal Assembly convenes only rarely, for instance to witness
800-524: The Governor of Tasmania rejected the advice of his Premier to appoint the leader of the opposition as Premier because he felt the advice was tendered in bad faith. The Premier went on to form a new government. Under the 1925 Chilean Constitution , the president was elected by an absolute majority of the popular vote; if no candidate won an absolute majority, the National Congress would hold
840-484: The National Council as a minister or Chancellor. However, the National Council's right to sack a minister or the entire cabinet makes it all but impossible for Presidents to appoint a government entirely of their own choosing or keep it in office against the will of the National Council. While the President has the theoretical authority to dissolve a hostile National Council, constitutional convention prevents this power from being exercised. Austria accordingly functions as
SECTION 20
#1732772379460880-562: The National Council thus serves mostly as a moderator of parliamentary debate. Austrian Parliament Opposition (30) Opposition (116) Wöginger • Rendi-Wagner • Kickl • Maurer • Meinl-Reisinger • [REDACTED] [REDACTED] [REDACTED] [REDACTED] [REDACTED] [REDACTED] [REDACTED] [REDACTED] [REDACTED] [REDACTED] [REDACTED] [REDACTED] [REDACTED] The Austrian Parliament ( German : Österreichisches Parlament )
920-603: The Norwegian parliament has been very reluctant to change it. Few of the developments in the political system that have been taking place since then have been codified as amendments. This reluctance has been labelled constitutional conservatism. The two most important examples of constitutional conventions in the Norwegian political system are parliamentarism and the declining power of the King. Much of Spain's political framework
960-639: The Socialist candidate Salvador Allende , a self-proclaimed Marxist , won the most votes; thus, the contingent election became a battleground between the two major powers of the Cold War , with the United States launching a campaign to prevent Allende's election by Congress while the Soviet Union gave its support to Allende. Although Allende was eventually elected at the contingent election, he
1000-416: The breach, the person who breaches a convention is often heavily criticised, on occasions leading to a loss of respect or popular support. No convention is absolute; all but one (the second) of the above conventions were disregarded in the leadup to or during the constitutional crisis of 1975 . Ignoring constitutional conventions does not always result in a crisis. After the 2010 Tasmanian state election ,
1040-599: The constitution of the Roman Republic was codified comparatively late in its development and relied for its functioning on traditions and a shared moral code called mos maiorum . In the Holy Roman Empire such important issues as who could elect the emperor were entirely uncodified before the Golden Bull of 1356 and remained subject to a certain degree of interpretation well afterwards. The term
1080-427: The courts. This portion of constitutional law may, for the sake of distinction, be termed the "conventions of the constitution", or constitutional morality. A century later, Canadian scholar Peter Hogg wrote: Conventions are rules of the constitution which are not enforced by the law courts. Because they are not enforced by the law courts they are best regarded as non-legal rules, but because they do in fact regulate
1120-568: The enactment of the Constitution Act, 1867 . In others, notably the United Kingdom, which lack a single overarching constitutional document, unwritten conventions are still of vital importance in understanding how the state functions. In most states, however, many old conventions have been replaced or superseded by laws (called codification ). Historical entities often had strong emphasis on constitutional convention. For example
1160-533: The exercise of a certain type of power, which is not prohibited by law, arouses such opposition that it becomes impossible, on future occasions, to engage in further exercises of this power. For example, the constitutional convention that the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom cannot remain in office without the support of a majority of members of the House of Commons is derived from an unsuccessful attempt by
1200-417: The federal level and mostly so at the cantonal and communal level. Mostly, they aim to reconcile the democratic principle of majority rule with the need to achieve consensus in a nation that is much more heterogeneous in many respects than other nation-states. While the United Kingdom does not have a written constitution that is a single document, the collection of legal instruments that have developed into
1240-452: The formal constitutional documents describe. In particular, the formal constitution often confers wide discretionary powers on the head of state that, in practice, are used only on the advice of the head of government , and in some cases not at all. Some constitutional conventions operate separately from or alongside written constitutions, such as in Canada since the country was formed with
National Council (Austria) - Misplaced Pages Continue
1280-600: The inauguration of the Federal President . It might be noted, however, that under exceptional circumstances the Austrian constitution endows the Federal Assembly with significant responsibilities. An example of this would be its pivotal role in the hypothetical impeachment of a Federal President. Both houses of parliament, as well as the Federal Assembly, convene in the parliament building located on
1320-469: The legal rules." More precisely, the conventions make certain acts, which would be permissible under a straightforward reading of the law, impermissible in practice. The court ruled that this conflict between convention and law means that no convention, no matter how well-established or universally accepted, can "crystallize" into law, unless the relevant parliament or legislature enacts a law or constitutional amendment codifying that convention. This principle
1360-461: The mass of custom, tradition, or judge-made maxims know [ sic ? ] as the common law) are enforced by the courts. ... The other set of rules consist of conventions, understandings, habits, or practices that—though they may regulate the conduct of the several members of the sovereign power, the Ministry, or other officials—are not really laws, since they are not enforced by
1400-475: The ministry of Robert Peel to govern without the support of a majority in the House, in 1834–1835 . Constitutional conventions are not, and cannot be, enforced by courts of law. The primary reason for this, according to the Supreme Court of Canada in its 1981 Patriation Reference , is that, "They are generally in conflict with the legal rules which they postulate and the courts may be bound to enforce
1440-572: The nine States of the Federal Republic, and reflects the distribution of seats in the Austrian Landtage . The states are represented in the Federal Council roughly in accordance to the size of their populations. Seats are redistributed among the states following each general census, and the overall size of the chamber varies slightly as a result. The current Federal Council is composed of 61 delegates. With regard to most issues,
1480-534: The president proper. As a practical matter, however, the Chancellor, who nominally ranks third in the Austrian order of precedence, is the country's leading political figure. Thus, the President of the National Council is a representative of rather moderate significance: wielding less power than the president by extension means wielding less power than the Chancellor or even most federal ministers. The President of
1520-459: The working of the constitution they are an important concern of the constitutional lawyer. What conventions do is to prescribe the way in which legal powers shall be exercised. Some conventions have the effect of transferring effective power from the legal holder to another official or institution. Other conventions limit an apparently broad power, or even prescribe that a legal power shall not be exercised at all. Constitutional conventions arise when
1560-647: Was first used by British legal scholar A. V. Dicey in his 1883 book, Introduction to the Study of the Law of the Constitution . Dicey wrote that in Britain, the actions of political actors and institutions are governed by two parallel and complementary sets of rules: The one set of rules are in the strictest sense "laws", since they are rules which (whether written or unwritten, whether enacted by statute or derived from
1600-436: Was later overthrown by the military in 1973 ; under the military regime of Augusto Pinochet , which succeeded Allende, a new constitution was adopted in 1980, which replaced the contingent election with a runoff by popular vote , rendering the convention obsolete. There is a convention that the Prime Minister of New Zealand should not ask for an early election unless they are unable to maintain confidence and supply . By
#459540