German pirate party (Group Work)

The Pirate Party (Piratenpartei Deutschland)

History

The Pirate Party was founded in September 10th, 2006 in Berlin, Germany. The party is currently headquartered in Berlin as well. The German Pirate Party is in agreement with the Swedish Pirate Party and is in partnership with the Pirate Parties International. In August of 2012 there were 35,000 members. The parties current Party Leader is Thorsten Worth.

Notable Joining Members

• February 2009, The City Councillor of Strausberg, Jens Knoblich joined the Pirate Party Germany.
• June 2009, Bundestag member, Jorg Tauss left the SPD and joined the Pirate Party.
• August 2009, Herbert Rusche, one of the founding members of the German Green Party and in the 1980s, the first openly homosexual member of parliament in Germany, joined the Pirate Party.

Ideology

Begin clip.

The party supports the preservation of current civil rights in telephony and on the Internet; in particular, it opposes the European data retention policies.

The party favors the civil right to information privacy and reforms of copyright, education, genetic patents  and drug policy.

In particular, it promotes an enhanced transparency of government by implementing open source governance  and providing for APIs to allow for electronic inspection and monitoring of government operations by the citizen.

The Pirate Party also supports an unconditional basic income for citizens and direct democracy. End clip.

According to political theorist Oskar Niedermayer, the party sees itself as part of an international movement to shape the digital revolution and transition into a information society. With their focus on freedom in the net and their fight against government regulations. The group has caught the attention especially of the younger generation. The network policy was the core identity of the party, it is now more than just an advocacy party of digital natives. The Pirate Party characterizes itself as a social-liberal-progressive.

Notable Election Results

2009 German Federal Election

In the 2009 German Federal Election pm September 27, 2009, the Pirates received 845,904 votes which was only 2.0% of the vote. Needing 5.0% to secure any seats in the Bundestag they fell short. However, this was still the best result among parties that did not meet the 5.0% threshold. Also noted among first-time male voters, the party received 13.0%.

2009 European Parliament Election

In the 2009 European Parliament Election The Pirate Party received 229,117 votes which was 0.9% of the vote. Needing at least 5.0% of the vote they did not earn any seats.

German State Elections

(Note: To gain seats you need to recieve 5.0% of the vote or more)

• 2009 Saxony State Election the Pirates received 1.9% of the vote.
• 2009 Schleswig-Holstein State Election the Pirates received 1.8% of the vote.
• 2009 Hesse State Election the Pirates only received 0.5% of the vote.
• 2010 North Rhine-Westphalia State Election the Pirates received 1.5% of the vote.
• 2011 Hamburg State Elections the Pirates received 2.1% of the vote.
• 2011 Baden-Wurttemberg State Election the Pirates received 2.1% of the vote.
• 2011 Saxony-Anhalt State Election the Pirates received 1.4% of the vote.
• 2011 Rhineland-Palatinate State Election the Pirates received 1.6% of the vote.
• 2011 Berlin State Election the Pirates received 8.9% of the vote and managed to gain 15 seats in the State Parliament.
• 2012 Saarland State Election the Pirates received 7.4% of the vote and gained 4 seats in the State Parliament.
• 2012 Schleswig-Holstein State Election the Pirates received 8.2% of the vote and gained 6 seats in the State Parliament.
• 2012 North Rhine-Westphalia State Election the Pirates received 7.8% of the vote and gained 20 seats in the State Parliament.
• 2013 Lower Saxony State Election the Pirates only received 2.1% of the vote.
• 2013 Bavaria State Election the Pirates only received 2.0% of the vote.

Number of Members

Decline in Numbers and Polls

Begin clip. After those successful state elections, the party was able to score up to 13% in nationwide polls. However, after a lengthy array of scandals and internal disputes which were handled unprofessionally and picked up by the media, the party lost the trust of voters and entered a steady decline in polls. End clip.

At the 2013 German Federal Elections the Pirate Party suffered a major defeat where it was only able to achieve 2.2% of the votes, leading to the resignation of party leader Bernd Schlomer. The Pirate Party has often been criticized as well for the lack of women in the Pirate Party. At the height of the parties popularity they had over 35,000 members.

Past Party Leaders

 Bernd Schlomer, Sebastian Nerz, Dirk Hillbrecht, Chrstof Leng, and Jens Seipenbusch.

Sources

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pirate_Party_Germany

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Piraten_de_ew_2009.svg

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Mitgliederentwicklung_Piratenpartei_Deutschland.png