Pirate Parties: The Original Digital Party Family

Abstract

Emerging in the mid-2000s, Pirate parties were the first parties to make the Internet the centre of party politics and party organisation. This chapter reviews the literature on Pirate parties and discusses the legacy of Pirate parties in the use of digital tools for party organisation and internal party decision-making that later inspired new digital parties. The chapter empirically assesses two case studies of the Pirate Party family, the Finnish Pirate Party and the Czech Pirate Party, to demonstrate different applications of digital tools in organisation and campaigning. The cases show that both parties have remained true to the original Pirate ethos in creating and sustaining numerous platforms for open discussion and debate as well as retaining a commitment to transparency and equality in decision-making. While the organisational structure built around online participation and communication has been an advantage for the members and supporters of these parties, the success or failure of parties to mobilise voters in the longer run rests on other factors than the use of digital tools.