Deaustrification? : the policy-area-specific evolution of Austrian social partnership.

Recently, the functioning of Austrian Social Partnership has been increasingly questioned. If this interpretation of current strains on the relations between the state and the main economic interest organizations would be correct, Austria would become a significant case in favor of disorganization theory. However, on the basis of case studies in fields of social and economic policy-making crucial for international competitiveness (working time, vocational training, industrial policy) the paper argues that many elements of interest intermediation, concertation, and conflict resolution remained constant over the last 30 years, entailing both elements of concertation and of conflict. What is to be observed is a trend towards organized decentralization.