Our citizens’ initiative has existed since the beginning of 2006 and is independent from any political party. We see our field of action in public relations and in promoting the idea of direct democracy.

In Austria, there are some laws which regulate direct democracy and we have different types of referendums.

On the one hand, the so called “Volksbegehren” which has been held 32 times since 1964 has only limited effects. The parliament has to discuss the result and is not obliged to pass a new law. This kind of referendum can be initiated by 8023 citizens.

On the other hand, there is a “Volksabstimmung” whose results oblige the parliament to pass a new law. This type of referendum must be permitted by the parliament or the state president and has only been proceeded twice in Austria after the second world war. That kind of referendum cannot be initiated by the citizens.

Therefore we have a restricted access to direct democracy in Austria. Our aims are to abolish these barriers as well as to guarantee free access to media. To coordinate our citizens’ initiative we have an office in Graz as well as this website from which you can download flyers, stickers, and other material to spread our ideas.