Federal State of Austria in 1931 pursued the idea of overcoming the ongoing class struggle by the implementation of a corporative form of government modelled on Italian fascism and Portugal’s Estado Novo. The CS politician Engelbert Dollfuss, appointed Chancellor of Austria in 1932, on 4 March 1933 saw an opportunity in the resignation of Social Democrat Karl Renner as president of the Austrian "Nationalrat", after irregularities occurred during a voting process. Dollfuss called the incident a "self-elimination" ("Selbstausschaltung") of the parliament and had the following meeting on 15 March forcibly prorogued by the forces of the Vienna police department. His party fellow, President Wilhelm
Politics of Austria National opinion polls or consultative referenda are held, unlike referenda, before the National Council passes a law. Its results are not legally binding. As of 2015, there has only been one national opinion poll. The People's Party ("Österreichische Volkspartei", or ÖVP) was found by leaders of the former Christian Social Party in 1945 as a conservative/Centre-right party with loose ties to the Catholic Church. Between 1945 and 1970 it provided the Chancellor of Austria and since 1987 it has continuously been in government, its leader Wolfgang Schüssel being Chancellor between 2000 and 2007. It finds support from farmers, large and