Politics in the City

The political participation of citizens was limited by the constraints of suffrage. The persistence of poll-tax based suffrage in the cities after the introduction of universal male suffrage in Cisleithania created a gap between local, regional, and national representation. This was an obstacle to the political expression of the nationalities in the city as well as to the growing influence of socialism. The paradox lies in the fact that the Social Democratic Party, thanks to its transnational approach, was more of an ally of the central authorities than many of the party’s political rivals. Access to voting was limited in the cities to tax-paying citizens who were divided into three categories (Wahlkurien). ¹ In 1897, the reform of the vote for the Reichsrat allowed the creation of a fourth category in the communes in 1904 and then in 1906, as well as in some statutory towns like Brünn in 1905. ² However, the measure’s expected democratization did not occur. The main beneficiary was the new Christian Social Party that recruited its voters from precisely those now allowed to vote: employees, craftsmen, and civil servants of the lowest grades. The question of the participation of civil servants in active political life was a constant preoccupation in both parts of the empire. At the turn of the century, when mass parties entered the political arena, an increasing number of civil servants became involved in election campaigns. This in many cases undermined the notion of civil servants representing a politically neutral institution; if they campaigned for parties contesting the order, their neutrality and loyalty to the state could be questioned, yet if they supported the governing party, they became increasingly seen, especially in contested areas, as agents of the state or the national majority. ³ The lower grades of the bureaucracy were also influenced by national conflict. In this respect the introduction of universal suffrage that Emperor Francis Joseph had seen as an attempt to hold back the nationalities and satisfy their demand for participation proved not to be a solution in the long term. ⁴