Materials

The primary sources for our research are the stenographic records of the two houses of the Austrian Parliament, the National Council  (Nationalrat) and the Federal Council (Bundesrat). Article 32/1 of the Austrian constitution stipulates that sessions of the National Council are public. Article 52 of the Rules of Procedure of the National Council (Geschäftsordnungsgesetz GOG-NR) stipulates what is to be included in the stenographic record:

(1) Stenographic records shall be made of the public sittings of the National Council and published in printed form; these records shall reflect the deliberations in extenso.

(2) Each speaker shall receive, before his/her statements are printed, a copy of the stenographic record so that s/he can make editorial corrections. In case of doubt the President shall rule on the admissibility of such corrections. Unless objections are raised or the copy is returned within the period allowed for correction the record shall go to print.

(3) The stenographic records shall list the items of business received during and/or since the last sitting.

Paragraph 1 states that the proceedings must be reported in full. This means that the recorders must also note heckling in the plenum, including, if possible, the name of the heckler. Moreover, the general tone of and responses during plenary sessions or parts of them are recorded. Thus merriment, applause, laughter, indignation, etc.

The records are made available to the public through the Parlamentsbibliothek (Library of Parliament). They are also published on the Homepage des Parlaments (parliamentary homepage). Here can be found all the stenographic records since the first legislative period (1920-1923).

Older records are available via ALEX, the National Library’s collection of historical legal and legislative documents.