{"id":5827,"date":"2017-10-17T15:03:05","date_gmt":"2017-10-17T15:03:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/pan.thatscommunication.de\/nudging-with-a-badge\/"},"modified":"2026-10-19T21:47:42","modified_gmt":"2026-10-19T21:47:42","slug":"nudging-with-a-badge","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/pan.thatscommunication.de\/en\/nudging-with-a-badge\/","title":{"rendered":"Nudging with a Badge"},"content":{"rendered":"

Even though almost all parties pledged reforms during the election campaign, it is the statists \u2013 those forces seeking to expand the power of the state over its citizens \u2013 who will politically prevail. A commentary by Rainhard Kloucek <\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

If one were to believe all the promises made during the election campaign, then the era of major reforms should now be dawning in Austria. Only the Reds and the Greens wanted to continue as before. The latter were driven out of parliament by voters; no sensible person will shed a single tear for them. With the many votes the SP\u00d6 managed to gain from the Greens, the party of dirty campaigning still achieved a respectable result, yet remained clearly in the minority. <\/p>\n

All other parties or movements campaigned with clear promises of reform, from deregulation to tax cuts. One might therefore hope for a reduction in state influence, allowing freedom, personal responsibility, and initiative to have a chance once more. But that was before the election. Now, post-election disillusionment is the order of the day. <\/p>\n

The Alliance with Putin’s Party<\/h5>\n

One should not have too many expectations. Even if a collaboration between the \u00d6VP and FP\u00d6 were to materialise (there are many very good reasons to consider the SP\u00d6 and FP\u00d6 option highly probable), many election promises will quickly be forgotten. The FP\u00d6 has so far been more notable for paternalism than genuine liberalism. Its partnership with Russian President Vladimir Putin’s party certainly allows conclusions to be drawn about its understanding of the state. This does not mean that the Austrian Armed Forces will soon march into Chernivtsi (which belonged to Austria before Crimea first became Russian), but it is nevertheless a sign of a desire for strong state control in as many areas of daily life as possible, particularly concerning the control of education. <\/p>\n

Within the \u00d6VP, the existing forces of clientelism and the bureaucratic chamber state have not disappeared. Anyone who has carefully read publications from individual associations, or listened to what the powerful voice of the Public Service Union says, could already discern some dissonance with the messages proclaimed by the lead candidate and election winner. He himself, in the final phase of the election campaign, demonstrated his statist side with his demand for a law against smear campaigns<\/a>. <\/p>\n

Voluntary Work Needs No State Badge<\/h5>\n

Another example was provided by a leading party official just a few days before the election. She called for a state quality seal for voluntary work. Voluntary engagement is undoubtedly enormously important for the functioning of a society. This ranges from fire brigades to small animal breeders’ associations, to political associations and think tanks, which could not exist without voluntary contributions. This engagement has worked quite well so far without the state awarding quality seals for it. This is because the motivation for such voluntary engagement lies in the personal preferences of individual citizens. This commitment is independent of state regulations, residing in the freedom and responsibility of the individual. As long as the state does not hinder it, it will continue to function; the more the state interferes through regulation, the more it saps people’s motivation (though it should not be denied that, for example, certain legal frameworks must exist for fire brigades). <\/p>\n

However, a state quality seal would ultimately lead to the state directing voluntary engagement. Nudging with a badge. The state dictates which engagement is desired and which is not. Only what the state honours would then be considered good. Anyone involved in an association not state-recognised becomes a bad comrade, opposing world peace. <\/p>\n

Freedom and Responsibility<\/h5>\n

In Austria, however, we do not need new comrades or more state control, whether through taxes, laws, or indeed nudging, but rather a break from the existing statism and paternalism, towards freedom and responsibility.<\/p>\n

The author is the Secretary-General of the Paneuropean Movement Austria.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Even though almost all parties pledged reforms during the election campaign, it is the statists \u2013 those forces seeking to expand the power of the state over its citizens \u2013 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":5828,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"pmpro_default_level":"","_price":"","_stock":"","_tribe_ticket_header":"","_tribe_default_ticket_provider":"","_tribe_ticket_capacity":"","_ticket_start_date":"","_ticket_end_date":"","_tribe_ticket_show_description":"","_tribe_ticket_show_not_going":false,"_tribe_ticket_use_global_stock":"","_tribe_ticket_global_stock_level":"","_global_stock_mode":"","_global_stock_cap":"","_tribe_rsvp_for_event":"","_tribe_ticket_going_count":"","_tribe_ticket_not_going_count":"","_tribe_tickets_list":"[]","_tribe_ticket_has_attendee_info_fields":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[727],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-5827","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-blog","pmpro-has-access"],"yoast_head":"\nNudging with a Badge - Paneuropa<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"noindex, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_GB\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Nudging with a Badge - Paneuropa\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Even though almost all parties pledged reforms during the election campaign, it is the statists \u2013 those forces seeking to expand the power of the state over its citizens \u2013\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/pan.thatscommunication.de\/en\/nudging-with-a-badge\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Paneuropa\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2017-10-17T15:03:05+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2026-10-19T21:47:42+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/pan.thatscommunication.de\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/10\/Mehr-zum-Leben-1.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"886\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"734\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Rainhard Kloucek\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Rainhard Kloucek\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Estimated reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/pan.thatscommunication.de\\\/en\\\/nudging-with-a-badge\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/pan.thatscommunication.de\\\/en\\\/nudging-with-a-badge\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Rainhard Kloucek\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/pan.thatscommunication.de\\\/en\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/57b25ee9361467a2a96494ceab16dbf2\"},\"headline\":\"Nudging with a Badge\",\"datePublished\":\"2017-10-17T15:03:05+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-10-19T21:47:42+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/pan.thatscommunication.de\\\/en\\\/nudging-with-a-badge\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":647,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/pan.thatscommunication.de\\\/en\\\/nudging-with-a-badge\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/pan.thatscommunication.de\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2017\\\/10\\\/Mehr-zum-Leben-1.jpg\",\"articleSection\":[\"Blog\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-GB\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/pan.thatscommunication.de\\\/en\\\/nudging-with-a-badge\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/pan.thatscommunication.de\\\/en\\\/nudging-with-a-badge\\\/\",\"name\":\"Nudging with a Badge - Paneuropa\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/pan.thatscommunication.de\\\/en\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/pan.thatscommunication.de\\\/en\\\/nudging-with-a-badge\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/pan.thatscommunication.de\\\/en\\\/nudging-with-a-badge\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/pan.thatscommunication.de\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2017\\\/10\\\/Mehr-zum-Leben-1.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2017-10-17T15:03:05+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-10-19T21:47:42+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/pan.thatscommunication.de\\\/en\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/57b25ee9361467a2a96494ceab16dbf2\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/pan.thatscommunication.de\\\/en\\\/nudging-with-a-badge\\\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-GB\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/pan.thatscommunication.de\\\/en\\\/nudging-with-a-badge\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-GB\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/pan.thatscommunication.de\\\/en\\\/nudging-with-a-badge\\\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/pan.thatscommunication.de\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2017\\\/10\\\/Mehr-zum-Leben-1.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/pan.thatscommunication.de\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2017\\\/10\\\/Mehr-zum-Leben-1.jpg\",\"width\":886,\"height\":734},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/pan.thatscommunication.de\\\/en\\\/nudging-with-a-badge\\\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Start\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/pan.thatscommunication.de\\\/en\\\/paneuropa\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Nudging with a Badge\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/pan.thatscommunication.de\\\/en\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/pan.thatscommunication.de\\\/en\\\/\",\"name\":\"Paneuropa\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/pan.thatscommunication.de\\\/en\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-GB\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/pan.thatscommunication.de\\\/en\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/57b25ee9361467a2a96494ceab16dbf2\",\"name\":\"Rainhard Kloucek\",\"description\":\"Rainhard Kloucek steht seit 2024 an der Spitze der Paneuropabewegung \u00d6sterreich. Zuvor war er ab 1999 als Generalsekret\u00e4r der Organisation t\u00e4tig.\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/pan.thatscommunication.de\\\/en\\\/author\\\/kloucek\\\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Nudging with a Badge - Paneuropa","robots":{"index":"noindex","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"og_locale":"en_GB","og_type":"article","og_title":"Nudging with a Badge - Paneuropa","og_description":"Even though almost all parties pledged reforms during the election campaign, it is the statists \u2013 those forces seeking to expand the power of the state over its citizens \u2013","og_url":"https:\/\/pan.thatscommunication.de\/en\/nudging-with-a-badge\/","og_site_name":"Paneuropa","article_published_time":"2017-10-17T15:03:05+00:00","article_modified_time":"2026-10-19T21:47:42+00:00","og_image":[{"width":886,"height":734,"url":"https:\/\/pan.thatscommunication.de\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/10\/Mehr-zum-Leben-1.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Rainhard Kloucek","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Rainhard Kloucek","Estimated reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/pan.thatscommunication.de\/en\/nudging-with-a-badge\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/pan.thatscommunication.de\/en\/nudging-with-a-badge\/"},"author":{"name":"Rainhard Kloucek","@id":"https:\/\/pan.thatscommunication.de\/en\/#\/schema\/person\/57b25ee9361467a2a96494ceab16dbf2"},"headline":"Nudging with a Badge","datePublished":"2017-10-17T15:03:05+00:00","dateModified":"2026-10-19T21:47:42+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/pan.thatscommunication.de\/en\/nudging-with-a-badge\/"},"wordCount":647,"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/pan.thatscommunication.de\/en\/nudging-with-a-badge\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/pan.thatscommunication.de\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/10\/Mehr-zum-Leben-1.jpg","articleSection":["Blog"],"inLanguage":"en-GB"},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/pan.thatscommunication.de\/en\/nudging-with-a-badge\/","url":"https:\/\/pan.thatscommunication.de\/en\/nudging-with-a-badge\/","name":"Nudging with a Badge - Paneuropa","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/pan.thatscommunication.de\/en\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/pan.thatscommunication.de\/en\/nudging-with-a-badge\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/pan.thatscommunication.de\/en\/nudging-with-a-badge\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/pan.thatscommunication.de\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/10\/Mehr-zum-Leben-1.jpg","datePublished":"2017-10-17T15:03:05+00:00","dateModified":"2026-10-19T21:47:42+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/pan.thatscommunication.de\/en\/#\/schema\/person\/57b25ee9361467a2a96494ceab16dbf2"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/pan.thatscommunication.de\/en\/nudging-with-a-badge\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-GB","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/pan.thatscommunication.de\/en\/nudging-with-a-badge\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-GB","@id":"https:\/\/pan.thatscommunication.de\/en\/nudging-with-a-badge\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/pan.thatscommunication.de\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/10\/Mehr-zum-Leben-1.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/pan.thatscommunication.de\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/10\/Mehr-zum-Leben-1.jpg","width":886,"height":734},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/pan.thatscommunication.de\/en\/nudging-with-a-badge\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Start","item":"https:\/\/pan.thatscommunication.de\/en\/paneuropa\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Nudging with a Badge"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/pan.thatscommunication.de\/en\/#website","url":"https:\/\/pan.thatscommunication.de\/en\/","name":"Paneuropa","description":"","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/pan.thatscommunication.de\/en\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-GB"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/pan.thatscommunication.de\/en\/#\/schema\/person\/57b25ee9361467a2a96494ceab16dbf2","name":"Rainhard Kloucek","description":"Rainhard Kloucek steht seit 2024 an der Spitze der Paneuropabewegung \u00d6sterreich. Zuvor war er ab 1999 als Generalsekret\u00e4r der Organisation t\u00e4tig.","url":"https:\/\/pan.thatscommunication.de\/en\/author\/kloucek\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/pan.thatscommunication.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5827","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/pan.thatscommunication.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/pan.thatscommunication.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pan.thatscommunication.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pan.thatscommunication.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5827"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/pan.thatscommunication.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5827\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pan.thatscommunication.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/5828"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/pan.thatscommunication.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5827"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pan.thatscommunication.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5827"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pan.thatscommunication.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5827"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}