ABSTRACT
Austria has long been considered a prime case of corporatism. Using the term in its broadest sense, corporatism implies co-operative policy styles in various arenas of the political system. In Austria, consensual politics has been practised both in party politics, especially within grand coalition government, and in industrial relations and economic policy, within the system of social partnership. Social partnership consists in the co-operation of five large economic interest groups, which in general represent all or all relevant individuals in their specific economic sectors. The two most important of these are, on the employer side, the Federal Chamber of Business (BWK) and, on the employee side, the Austrian Trade Union Federation (GB). The Federal Chamber of Business is a statutory interest organisation, established by public law and with obligatory membership. The dynamics of re-organisation and privatisation within the nationalised industry sector prove that even politically costly change is no longer impossible.
