Democracy in Austria: Index Shows Significant Deterioration
According to the Democracy Index presented today, the state of Austrian democracy has deteriorated significantly. In particular, there are worrying developments in the areas of fundamental rights, civil society, and the media.
Once a year, the index describes the status and development of democratic indicators in Austria. / Picture: © Wikimedia Commons/ Peter Binter/ CC BY-SA 2.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0)
The index, which is compiled once a year by nine democratic policy organizations in the “Democracy Index” association, describes the state and development of democratic indicators in Austria. After stabilizing in previous years, the overall value of the index fell by 0.6 percentage points from 55.7 to 55.1 percent, confirming the downward trend.
Seven institutions of democracy are evaluated: the sovereign, political parties, the legislature, the executive, the judiciary, the media, and civil society, with a total of 115 individual requirements included in the assessment. Only the new Freedom of Information Act had a positive impact, although according to association chairman Mathias Zojer, its concrete effects remain to be seen.
Criticism comes in particular from the areas of fundamental rights and surveillance. Thomas Lohninger from the association epicenter.works, which campaigns for digital rights, saw a massive deterioration in the area of digital fundamental rights. He referred to increased surveillance through the adopted “Bundestrojaner” (federal trojan) and the planned comprehensive inner-city surveillance by the police.
There are also “worrying developments” in the area of human and fundamental rights, according to Marianne Schulze from the Austrian Democracy Foundation. She cited the end of family reunification, the draft law on the headscarf ban, and increasing measures restricting freedom in nursing and retirement homes. In addition, the human rights expert saw trust in democratic institutions as being at risk and criticized the executive branch for applying double standards in police operations. Civil society organizations such as NGOs also came under political pressure last year.
Despite the serious situation, Mathias Zojer emphasized: "The situation is serious, but far from hopeless. All democratic forces must become aware of the dangers to democracy and take joint and decisive action against them."
The approach is based on the work “Freedom, Equality, Uncertainty: How to Create Democracy” by political scientist Jan-Werner Müller, as reported by ORF. The Democracy Index therefore recommends, among other countermeasures, a move away from mass surveillance, the comprehensive implementation of the active publication of executive documents, the strengthening of citizens' initiatives, and the targeted promotion of quality journalism. Nine organizations were involved in developing the index, including the Anti-Corruption Referendum, SOS Mitmensch, and the Concordia Press Club.