ABSTRACT
Characteristic of Austrian election behavior is the erosion of traditional party loyalty which is also expressed in declining voting participation, but also in the continually increasing mobility and readiness for change among Austrian voters. Gender-specific differences in electoral behavior have clearly gained importance, and such gender effects are more pronounced in the younger generation of voters than in the older generations. Austrian electoral behavior is more strongly characterized by differences between generations rather than by gender-specific differences. International comparisons of election studies are rare because the state of research on the whole continues to be unsatisfactory despite improved possibilities for using national data sets. The status of the research is much more satisfactory regarding the long-term development of voter participation in country comparison as well as the institutional context of election procedures and campaign practices in international comparison. During the 1980s, Austria in international comparison represented a country with above average turnout rates at parliamentary elections.
