Finally, Austria even has an alcohol-focused political party, with its own theme song and recent polling as high as 10%. The party, known as the Party of Reason, advocates for the legalization of marijuana and is critical of what it sees as government interference in personal choices.

The party has maintained its position as the most popular in the country, with recent polls showing support at around 35%. On the left, the Social Democratic Party of Austria (SPÖ) has seen an uptick in membership since left-winger Andreas Babler announced his candidacy to become party leader.

Following the end the Second World War and re-establishment of Austria as a sovereign state, the conservative Austrian People's Party (ÖVP) and the centre-left Social Democratic Party of Austria (SPÖ) dominated politics and public life for decades, with only one additional party—the FPÖ—playing a significant role at the national level.

The Austrian Republic was preceded by a constitutional monarchy, whose legislative body was elected by, as The New York Times put it, "quasi-universal (male) suffrage" for the first time in 1897.