The constitution of Cisleithania isbased,among other statutes, on the Pragmatic Sanction of 1713, on the patents of 1860 and 1861, and chiefly on the Fundamental Law of December 21, 1867. It may be suspended at any time by a two-thirds vote of both houses of the Reichsrat. The Em peror is the source of law and justice; he legis lates concurrently with the Reichsrat for Cisleith ania and with the provincial diets (Landtage) for the provinces. lie has the power to make treaties, issue ordinances, grant pardons, appoint officials, and to summon, prorogue, and dissolve the legislatures. Through his ministers he may initiate legislation. In case of necessity he may suspend the constitution and legislate provision ally by ordinance. Every act of his, however, must be countersigned by a minister, and his ex tra-eonstitutional decrees must be countersigned by the entire Alinisterial Council.
The Reichsrat consists of a House of Lords (He-rrenhaus) and a House of Representatives (Abgeordnetenhaus). The Upper House was made up in 1901 of 17 members of the Imperial family, 66 persons holding their seats by hered itary right, 6 archbishops and S bishops of princely rank, and 139 life-members. The Lower House consists of 425 members, chosen as fol lows: S5 by the great landed proprietors, 118 by the towns. 129 by the rural communities, 21 by the Chambers of Commerce, and 72 by the whole male population above the age of twenty-four, ex clusive of domestic servants. The different classes of electors are representative, in a way, of the an cient estates. The qualification for the franchise, in all classes except the last. is the payment of a direct tax, which varies from a very considerable sum, in the case of the landed proprietors, to a trifling amount in the town and rural communi ties. The representatives are selected directly in all classes, save the rural communities. The electoral districts are not marked out on the basis of population alone. Ethnical and economic conditions, and to a great degree the historical importance of different provinces, are taken into consideration. The representation of the differ ent provinces in the Lower House of the Reichs rat is as follows: Lower Austria, 46; Upper Austria. 20 ; Bohemia, 110 ; thikowina, 11 ; Carin thia, 10; Candola, 11; Dalmatia. 11; Galicia, 78: Giirz and Gradisea, 5; Istria, 5; Moravia, 43; Salzburg, 6; Silesia, 12; Styria, 27; Trieste, 5; Tyrol. 21; Vorarlberg. 4.
The Reichsrat assembles annually. The con sent of both houses is neeessary to all treaties relating to commerce or neeessitating the imposi tion of taxes as well as to all statutes and appro priations. Bills may originate in either house, but the annual budget and the recruiting bill fixing the quota of troops for the year must be presented to the Lower ]louse first. Concerning the position of the Reiehsrat in respect to the executive. something has been said above; its relation to the provincial diets may be summed up in the statement. that. the latter are vested with the power of legislation on all subjects not reserved to the Reiehsrat. and that the matters so reserved are very numerous. including any in terest that may concern two or more provinces in common. In greater detail, the scope of the Iteichsrat includes, in addition to those men tioned, the subjects of customs, coinage and communications, banking, corporations and trade, citizenship, domicile and census, religion and the right of association, the press and copy right, the general policy of public instruction, judicial legislation, the organization of the ex ecutive and judicial departments.
The administrative work of the General Gov ernment is divided into eight departments, com prising the ministries of the Interior, Finance, Defense. Agriculture. Railways, Justice, Com merce, Instruction and Worship. The heads of the eight departments, together with two minis ters without portfolio representing the kingdoms of Bohemia and Galicia. constitute the Minis terial Conneil. The civil service in Austria is characterized by its freedom from politics, elaborate automatism, and its marked tendency to intrude on the private life of the citizen. Though the Austrian constitution embodies a comprehensive bill of rights. acts which in their nature are serious limitations of the rights of the citizen are frequently justified as being em braced within the legitimate exercise of the police power. The constitutional restraints on the freedom of speech and of the press. and the right of association, are considerable, and as their in terpretation is left largely to executive officials, they often become quite onerous.