Elections to the European Parliament 2004 in Austria and Austrian Political Parties Cover Image

Volby do Evropského parlamentu 2004 v Rakousku a rakouské politické strany
Elections to the European Parliament 2004 in Austria and Austrian Political Parties

Author(s): Klára Poláčková, Vít Hloušek
Subject(s): Politics / Political Sciences
Published by: Masarykova univerzita nakladatelství
Keywords: Austria; European Parliament; Elections; Europeanization; Political Parties

Summary/Abstract: The article discusses the outcomes of elections to the European Parliament in Austria in June 2004. Attitudes of relevant Austrian parties towards the European integration project are briefly discussed and placed on the theoretical scale that ranges from “Hard Euroscepticism” and “Identity Europeanism”. The presented outcomes of the elections are put into the general context of the Austrian party system and voters’ preferences since the middle 1980s. Special attention is given to the phenomenon of Hans-Peter Martin’s populist list that won almost 14 % of the vote. Also, relatively low voter turnout is discussed. The Austrian example is very suitable for theorizing European elections as elections of less voters´ attention that is conceptualized at the end of the article.

  • Issue Year: VII/2005
  • Issue No: 1
  • Page Range: 1-12
  • Page Count: 12
  • Language: Czech