Proporzn.

1953 R. Hiscocks Rebirth of Austria iv. 51 There has been a common acceptance of the principle of what is called Proporz; that is, the principle that the proportionate strength of the parties in Parliament should be reflected not only in the allocation of Cabinet seats but in the distribution of public offices in general.

1963 Times 29 Apr. 10/5 Herr Raab, a firm partisan of the Austrian ‘Proporz’ system and of coalition with the Socialists, is known to have intervened during the recent government and prevented his party from forming a government with the right wing Liberal Party.

1972 K. Steiner Politics in Austria xiii. 389 In the Proporz arrangement these bureaucratic ministers were counted toward the party to which they were close and which nominated them.

1989 Institutional Investor (Internat. ed.) Mar. 54 Top jobs at major [Austrian] banks and companies tend to be allocated on the basis of a political spoils scheme—the so-called proporz system—that strives to maintain a balance between the ‘reds’ (socialists) and the ‘blacks’ (conservatives).

1997 Economist 25 Jan. 40/1 The biggest long-term question facing Austria..is whether to perpetuate the old system of Proporz, whereby the nation's business and politics, down to the humblest level, are stitched up between the two main parties.