Austrian People's Party
Österreichische Volkspartei |
|
---|---|
Abbreviation | ÖVP |
Chairman | Sebastian Kurz |
Founded | 17 April 1945 |
Preceded by |
None (de jure) Christian Social Party (de facto, partly) |
Headquarters | Lichtenfelsgasse 7 A-1010 Vienna |
Ideology |
Christian democracy Conservatism |
Political position | Centre-right |
European affiliation | European People's Party |
International affiliation | International Democrat Union |
European Parliament group | European People's Party |
Colours | Black |
National Council: |
62 / 183
|
Federal Council: |
22 / 61
|
European Parliament: |
5 / 18
|
State Parliaments: |
131 / 440
|
Website | |
www |
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The Austrian People's Party (German: Österreichische Volkspartei; ÖVP) is a Christian democratic and conservativepolitical party in Austria. A successor to the Christian Social Party of the late 19th and early 20th centuries, it is similar to the CDU/CSU of Germany in terms of ideology, with both operating as catch-all parties of the centre-right. The Austrian People's Party was founded immediately following the reestablishment of the Republic of Austria in 1945, and since then has been one of the two largest Austrian political parties with the Social Democratic Party of Austria (SPÖ). In federal governance, the ÖVP has spent most of the postwar era in a grand coalition with the SPÖ. Most recently, it has been junior partner in a coalition government with the SPÖ since 2007. However, the ÖVP won the 2017 election, having the greatest number of seats. If it is able to lead the next government, its chairman, Sebastian Kurz, will be the youngest chancellor in Austrian history.
The Austrian People's Party is conservative. For most of its existence, the People's Party has explicitly defined itself as Catholic and anti-socialist; the ideal of subsidiarity as defined by the encyclical Quadragesimo anno is generally considered one of the historical cornerstones of its agenda.
For the first election after World War II, ÖVP presented itself as the Austrian Party („die österreichische Partei“), was decidedly anti-Marxist and regarded itself as the Party of the Centre („Partei der Mitte“). The ÖVP consistently held power – either alone or in so-called Black-Red coalition with the Social Democratic Party of Austria (SPÖ) – until 1970, when the SPÖ formed a minority government with the Freedom Party of Austria (FPÖ). The ÖVP's economic policies during the era generally upheld a social market economy.