ABSTRACT
The Austrian parliamentary elections of 2006 were characterized by a decrease of electoral turnout, heavy losses of the incumbent people’s party (OVP), and smaller losses of the oppositional social democratic party (SPO). The SPO's primary aim was to reinforce the negative mood of a part of the electorate and direct it against the OVP and to mobilize social democratic core voters. The OVP had concentrated the campaign on its past merits, but was not able to formulate new political directions or to appease the latent discontent of a sizable share of the electorate by adapting its substantive and/or personnel propositions. Furthermore, the party did not succeed in influencing the dominant public agenda or countering the campaign strategy of the SPO. Although the SPO convinced only a small number of people to switch their vote in its favor, the party was able to damage the incumbent and to limit its own losses.
