ABSTRACT
Austria is characterized by a remarkably stable electoral behavior. Prevailing power relationships are only slow to change, if at all, and thus, public opinion research and interim elections can provide good insight. In 1986, however, both the Federal Presidential Election (May 4 and June 8) and the National Council Election (November 23), produced results which did not conform to the trend and which were therefore difficult to interpret:
Since the end of the Second World War, the office of Federal President has always fallen to a candidate supported by the Socialist Party of Austria (SPÖ). The SPÖ was able to count on the bonus of this traditional trend in the 1986 elections, and from the beginning of the campaign on, wagered heavily on this factor until the entire campaign was escalated by drawing the Second World War past of the ÖVP’s candidate into the picture, strongly altering the face of the election campaign. Dr. Kurt Waldheim won the Federal Presidential Election with a surprisingly strong majority, having received a significant number of votes from former SPÖ voters as well. Waldheim’s victory was viewed as a signal to change political horses; the SPÖ seemed to have been weakened considerably. Judging from the results of polls taken subsequent to the Styrian State Diet election, it was possible for the ÖVP to move ahead of the SPÖ in voters’ favor.
The National Council Election held that November, however, did not bring the relative majority hoped for by the ÖVP. Instead, the number of FPÖ supporters doubled to 9.7% under the leadership of the Party Chairman, Jörg Haider; the Greens also received a voice in Parliament. Dr. Franz Vranitzky led the SPÖ into a coalition government with the 94ÖVP, a form which he had declaredly pursued from the start. The results were viewed with surprise by larger sections of the electorate, since earlier, even the opinion polls had spoken too cautiously of a neck-and-neck race.
