Even if, internationally, Austria is not considered to be a
special case, there is still widespread agreement on the fact
that cooperation and the coordination of interests between the
federations is one of this country’s distinctive features. The
common definition for this type of cooperation is “social
partnership”. The federations and chambers work in close contact
with one or other of the two political parties, the Austrian
People’s Party or the Social Democratic Party of Austria. The
considerable economic growth and rise in employment and wages
during the 1950s and 1960s created a favourable basis for the
exchange of economic and socio-political interests. All this
contributed to the wide-spread establishment of the Austrian
system of social partnership in the 1960s. If the 1970s could be
regarded as its heyday, the 1990s, in particular, have witnessed
a change in this system’s significance. Social partnership is
neither anchored in the Austrian constitution nor laid down in
any specific act. It is roote