National Council (Austria) facts for kids

Quick facts for kids National Council Nationalrat
27th legislative period
Type
Type	Lower house of the Austrian Parliament
History
Founded	10 November 1920 (1920-11-10)
Preceded by	Constituent National Assembly
Leadership
President	Wolfgang Sobotka (ÖVP) Since 18 December 2017
Second President	Doris Bures (SPÖ) Since 9 November 2017
Third President	Norbert Hofer (FPÖ) Since 23 October 2019
Structure
Seats	183
Political groups	Government (97)      ÖVP (71)      Greens (26) Opposition (86)      SPÖ (40)      FPÖ (30)      NEOS (15)      Independent (1)
Elections
Voting system	Open list proportional representation
Last election	29 September 2019
Next election	Next
Meeting place
Austrian Parliament Building, Vienna

The National Council (called Nationalrat in German) is one of the two main parts of the Austrian Parliament. It is often called the lower house. The National Council has much more power than the other part, the Federal Council. It plays a very important role in how Austria is governed.

What the National Council Does

The National Council is where most of Austria's federal laws are made. For a new law to be created, the National Council must agree to it.

When the National Council passes a bill, it then goes to the Federal Council.

• If the Federal Council approves the bill, or if it does nothing for eight weeks, the bill becomes a law.
• If the Federal Council says no to the bill, the National Council can still make it a law. They just need to vote on it again with more members present. This means the Federal Council cannot truly stop a law from being passed.

There are a few special cases where the Federal Council can stop a law:

• Laws that change the powers of the different states in Austria.
• Laws that affect the Federal Council itself.
• Agreements with other countries that involve the states.

The National Council's approval is also needed for some big decisions. For example, if people want to vote to remove the President from office, or if Austria needs to declare war, the National Council must agree. They need a two-thirds majority vote for these important actions.

How Members Are Chosen

Regional constituencies in Austria. State constituencies are shown in colors.

The National Council has 183 members. These members are chosen by people across Austria in an election every five years. Anyone in Austria who is 16 years old or older on election day can vote.

The voting system tries to make sure that the number of seats a party gets matches the percentage of votes they receive. This is called party-list proportional representation. Voters also have some say in which specific candidates get elected. This is done through "partially open lists."

Here is how the election works:

• Austria is divided into nine large areas called regional electoral districts. These are the same as Austria's states.
• These nine regional areas are then split into 39 smaller local electoral districts.
• Political parties create lists of candidates for each district where they want to run. They also have a national list.
• Votes are first counted in the local districts. Most local districts have more than one seat to fill.
• The number of seats for each local district depends on how many people live there. This helps make sure the system is fair.
• Any votes not used at the local level are then counted at the regional level. This only happens if the party got at least four percent of the votes in that region.
• Finally, any votes still not used are counted at the national level. Again, the party must have received at least four percent of the total votes across the country.

Voters can also choose a specific candidate from their chosen party's list. If a candidate gets enough personal votes, they can move up on their party's list. This means voters have some power over which people get elected.

Special Features of the National Council

Austria's rules say that the President is the head of the government. But in real life, the Chancellor and the Cabinet do most of the daily work. The Chancellor and Cabinet need the support of the National Council to stay in power.

Even though the President can technically choose any eligible person to be a minister or Chancellor, the National Council can remove them. This makes it hard for the President to keep a government in power if the National Council doesn't like it. The President also has the power to close down the National Council, but this power is almost never used.

So, Austria works more like a parliamentary democracy. This means the government usually needs the National Council's approval. The President is mostly a symbolic figure.

The President of the National Council is officially Austria's second most important public official. But in practice, the Chancellor is the country's most important political leader. The President of the National Council mostly helps manage debates and discussions in parliament.

Latest Election Results

Party		Votes	%	+/−	Seats	+/−
	Austrian People's Party (ÖVP)	1,789,417	37.46	+5.99	71	+9
	Social Democratic Party of Austria (SPÖ)	1,011,868	21.18	–5.68	40	–12
	Freedom Party of Austria (FPÖ)	772,666	16.17	–9.80	31	–20
	The Greens – The Green Alternative (GRÜNE)	664,055	13.90	+10.10	26	+26
	NEOS – The New Austria (NEOS)	387,124	8.10	+2.80	15	+5
	JETZT – Pilz List (JETZT)	89,169	1.87	–2.54	0	–8
	KPÖ Plus (KPÖ+)	32,736	0.69	−0.09	0	±0
	Der Wandel (WANDL)	22,168	0.46	New	0	New
	Austrian Beer Party (BIER)	4,946	0.10	New	0	New
	Every Vote Counts! (GILT)	1,767	0.04	−0.91	0	±0
	BZÖ Carinthia – Alliance of Patriots (BZÖ)	760	0.02	New	0	New
	Socialist Left Party (SLP)	310	0.01	±0.00	0	±0
	Christian Party of Austria (CPÖ)	260	0.01	±0.00	0	±0
Invalid/blank votes		58,223	–	–	–	–
Total		4,835,469	100	–	183	0
Registered voters/turnout		6,396,812	75.59	–4.41	–	–
Source: Austrian Interior Ministry

Results by State

State	ÖVP	SPÖ	FPÖ	Grüne	NEOS	PILZ	Others	Turnout
Burgenland	38.3	29.4	17.3	8.1	4.9	1.3	0.8	81.4
Carinthia	34.9	26.2	19.8	9.5	6.8	1.7	1.1	72.4
Lower Austria	42.3	19.9	16.4	11.0	7.7	1.7	1.0	80.6
Upper Austria	36.8	22.1	17.5	13.7	7.3	1.5	1.1	77.7
Salzburg	46.4	16.4	13.7	12.6	8.4	1.4	1.1	76.4
Styria	38.9	19.2	18.5	13.0	7.1	1.7	1.7	74.8
Tyrol	45.8	13.0	14.7	14.7	8.9	1.7	1.2	71.8
Vorarlberg	36.6	13.1	14.7	18.1	13.6	2.1	1.7	67.7
Vienna	24.6	27.1	12.8	20.7	9.9	3.0	1.9	72.0
Austria	37.5	21.2	16.2	13.9	8.1	1.9	1.3	75.6
Source: Austrian Interior Ministry

Historical Composition of the National Council

1919-1930

Since 1945

Current Members of the National Council

See also

In Spanish: Consejo Nacional de Austria para niños

• List of presidents of the National Council of Austria
• Federal Assembly (Austria)
• Federal Council (Austria)
• Politics of Austria
• List of legislatures by country