Makers against takers: the socio-economic ideology and policy of the Austrian Freedom Party

Abstract

Recent studies hold that populist radical right parties have shifted towards a leftist socio-economic position in response to growing working-class support. Based on an analysis of policy choices in government, the present article examines this ‘pro-welfare view’ through a case study analysis of the Freedom Party of Austria (FPÖ). Yet, despite the ‘proletarisation’ of its electoral support base, the FPÖ’s pro-welfare impact is restricted to the mitigation of welfare retrenchment for the core workforce, whereas the party has been a protagonist of tax cuts, trade union disempowerment and, more recently, welfare chauvinism. This policy impact can be attributed to a producerist ideology arguing that tax-paying ‘makers’ (employees, employers) need to be liberated from the economic burden imposed by self-serving ‘takers’ (immigrants, ‘corrupt elite’). The article concludes with conceptual and theoretical implications for the political economy of the populist radical right.

Keywords:

• Radical right parties
• populism
• economic policies
• social policies
• corporatism

Acknowledgements

This is a revised version of a paper first prepared for presentation at the 2019 Dreiländertagung (Austrian, German, and Swiss Political Science trilateral conference), ETH Zurich, February 14–16, 2019. Many thanks to Fabio Wolkenstein, Reinhard Heinisch, Tarik Abou-Chadi, Romana Careja, Thomas Kurer, Dennis Spies, Sanna Salo, Catherine De Vries, Tim Vlandas, Lucio Baccaro, Pieter Vanhuysse, Peter Starke, Klaus Petersen, and two anonymous reviewers for helpful comments on earlier versions of this article. I also thank Valentin Daur for his great research assistance.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author.

Primary sources

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Notes

1 The conceptual distinction between protagonists, consenters and antagonists builds on Korpi (2006).

2 I thank one of the two anonymous reviewers for emphasizing this point.

3 The Chamber of Labour represents the whole workforce due to mandatory membership in corporatist parity bodies such as the social insurance and the public employment service. The Economic Chamber is the counterpart to the Chamber of Labour in representing every employer due to mandatory membership in collective bargaining and corporatist state bodies.

4 Compared to the previous benefit scheme (Karenzgeld), it implied a universalization in coverage, regardless of the previous employment record; an extended benefit duration from 18/24 months to 30/36 months; an expansion in generosity from 4.000 to 6.000 Austrian Schilling (= 436 Euro); and a relaxed limit on additional income to be earned alongside child benefit receipt (Zuverdienstgrenze) (Obinger and Tálos 2006: 162–7).

5 As the constitutional court had overturned a similar legislation at the regional level, the government adjusted its social assistance reform by making full benefit eligibility conditional on language requirements or the completion of compulsory schooling in Austria – two criteria refugees typically not fulfil. In December 2019, however, the constitutional court ruled that making social assistance benefits conditional on command of the German language would violate the constitution. It also annulled cuts in social assistance levels for families with more than two children.

6 In fact, from 2017 to 2019, the FPÖ seems to have changed its mind on privatisation by using the remaining companies in public ownership for party patronage, thereby following a long-standing tradition inherited from Austria’s two main historical parties, the SPÖ and ÖVP.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the German Research Foundation (DFG) under grant number 392405337.

Notes on contributors

Philip Rathgeb

Philip Rathgeb is a Postdoctoral Fellow in the Zukunftskolleg and Department of Politics and Public Administration at the University of Konstanz. He holds a PhD in Political and Social Sciences from the European University Institute and has held visiting positions at Harvard University, Lund University, and the University of Southern Denmark. His research and teaching interests fall in the area of comparative political economy, with a particular focus on welfare states and industrial relations. Website: www.philiprathgeb.com. [[email protected]]