Culture and Heritage
Austria was the birthplace of many famous composers such as Joseph Haydn, Michael Haydn, Franz Liszt, Franz Schubert, Anton Bruckner, Johann Strauss Senior and Johann Strauss Junior as well as members of the Second Viennese School such as Arnold Schoenberg, Anton Webern and Alban Berg. Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart was born in Salzburg, then an independent Church Principality of the Holy Roman Empire, though one that was culturally closely connected to Austria, and much of Mozart's career was spent in Vienna.
Vienna was for a long time an important center of musical innovation. 18th- and 19th-century composers were drawn to the city due to the patronage of the Habsburgs, and made Vienna the European capital of classical music. During the Baroque period, Slavic and Hungarian folk forms influenced Austrian music.
Politics
The politics of Austria take place in a framework of a federal parliamentary representative democratic republic, with a Federal Chancellor as head of government, and a Federal President as head of state.
Though theoretically entrusted with great power by the constitution, in practice the President acts merely as a ceremonial figurehead. The President of Austria is directly elected by universal adult suffrage once in every six years.
The Austrian Parliament is the bicameral legislature in Austria. It consists of two chambers: the National Council and the Federal Council. In specific cases, both houses convene as the Federal Assembly. The legislature meets in the Austrian Parliament Building in Vienna.
The National Council is composed of 183 members elected through proportional representation in a general election. The legislative period lasts five years, elections are held earlier if the National Council prematurely moves for its own dissolution. The National Council is the dominant (albeit 'lower') house in the Austrian Parliament, and consequently the terms Parliament and National Council are commonly used synonymously.
The Federal Council is elected indirectly, through the provincial assemblies of the nine States of the Federal Republic, and reflects the distribution of seats in the Austrian “Landtage”. The states are represented in the Federal Council roughly in accordance to the size of their populations. Seats are redistributed among the states following each general census, and the overall size of the chamber varies slightly as a result. The current Federal Council is composed of 61 delegates. With regard to most issues, the Federal Council only possesses a dilatory right of veto which can be overridden by the National Council. However, the Federal Council enjoys absolute veto powers over bills intended to alter the powers of either the states, or of the Federal Council itself.
The Federal Assembly is a body whose function is mostly ceremonial in nature, and consists of the members of both houses of Parliament. The Federal Assembly convenes only rarely, for instance to witness the inauguration of the Federal President.
The Federal Chancellor is the head of government of Austria. In his capacity as chairman of the Austrian Federal Government, the chancellor represents the supreme federal authority of the executive branch. Though formally an equal member of the cabinet, the Chancellor is considered to be the most powerful position in Austrian politics, and as such is the nation's de facto chief executive.