Origins
The Proporz system arose out of the need for balanced, consensual governance in the early years of Austria's second republic. At the time, the nation was consumed in an effort to rebuild the country after the devastation of World War II. Moreover, the nation was still haunted by the specter of the ideological factionalism which had characterized Austria's first republic (cf. the events of the Austrian Civil War). Thus, the doctrine of Proporz is intimately linked to the idea of the grand coalition, in which the major political parties, in the case of post-war Austria the SPÖ and the ÖVP, share in the government.
The memories of the factionalism that characterised the First Republic were so strong that even after the ÖVP won an absolute majority in the first postwar election, in 1945, it immediately sought a coalition with the SPÖ.
Read more about this topic: Proporz
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