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The German Pirate Party:

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Populists with Internet Access or a GameChanger for German Politics?

ermanys political landscape has recently been shaken up by the most controversial political phenomena of the last few decades: the rise of the Pirate Party. >>

Christoph Mielke Consultant APCO Worldwide Berlin

What started as a copy of the Swedish Piratpartiet in September 2006 in a small venue in Berlin has become the third-largest political force in Germany, if recent opinion surveys can be trusted. Forsa, a key German opinion pollster, found in April 2012 that the Pirate Party is supported by 13 percent of the German electorate. Another pollster suggests that one-third of Germans would theoretically consider voting for the Pirate Party. Last but not least, the Pirates see an incredible increase in membership numbers. What is it that makes the Pirates a force in German politics, a force that no one really had on the radar just a few months ago? And what impact does the rise of the Pirate Party have on public affairs work in Germany? So far, the Pirates have gained seats in four out of 16 national states: Berlin, Saarland and, recently, Schleswig-Holstein and North-Rhine Westphalia, Germanys most populous state. In all elections, the Pirates won between 7 and 10 percent of the votes results that have left the political establishment in disarray. More importantly, the elections are seen as a prelude to the ultimate test for the Pirates: Germanys national elections in September 2013. The success of the Pirate Party can only be understood as a result of voters frustration with the established political parties and the general parliamentary process. In the last decade, frustrated voters regularly hoisted left and right-wing extremist parties into various state parliaments, but these were usually singular acts of protest which led to outcries of disgust, as these were not accepted among the general public. In addition, many of these parties were so dysfunctional in the parliamentary process that they lost their chance of becoming a sustainable political force. All hopes are now pinned on the Pirate Party. The Pirates aim is to be different,

which makes the loosely organized group particularly appealing for non-voters and first-time voters. They are considered to be representatives of the young Facebook generation, people who are innovative, and in a sense almost anti-political in both their language and demeanour. Right now, the Pirate Party is more of a movement than a party a movement that addresses many of the faults Germans have seen with the established parties and is thus smartly filling a gap that has existed for quite some time.

They are considered to be representatives of the young Facebook generation: people who are innovative, and in a sense almost antipolitical...

It is the Pirates promise to shape politics transparently and increase participation by lowering the hurdles for political involvement. The party wants to bring the digital revolution into politics and satisfy the desire of many voters to be more involved in the political decision-making process. The way they are doing this is non-ideological and almost goes beyond the current framework of party politics. Rather than through concrete political projects, the work and image of the Pirates are defined by a combination of an innovative online-driven political decision-making process and a leadership that is dominated by a handful of individuals with completely different backgrounds. Party structure between anarchy and a new way of making politics The last three decades have been characterized by a decrease in loyalty to the two major German parties, the Social Democrats (SPD) and the Conservative Parties (CDU/CSU). Most voters feel that there is no real difference in the political direction of the two major parties. In addition, the Liberal Party, once the natural herald of liberal ideas such as civil rights and internet rights, has fallen to pieces over the last two years. Two parties have emerged in the meantime, the Green Party in the early 1980s and the Left Party in the 2000s. The Pirates are not only the winners of the increasingly fragmented German party system; it is also the general rise of protest movements in Germany that fuels their success. The constant protest of civil groups against large infrastructure projects such as the train station in Stuttgart or the construction of energy utilities in Hamburg are only two examples for the current protest culture in which small groups of activists have succeeded to gain major public visibility and influence the public debate on these topics.

One of the most interesting features of the Pirate Party is the way they organize themselves. The Pirates have developed a platform called Liquid Feedback, an online tool that enables party members and interested individuals to actively participate in online forums and discuss a wide array of political issues. Those who feel they have a high level of expertise can contribute to a political debate, and thereby directly influence party policy. Hence, instead of having designated experts or spokespeople on political topics, Pirate representatives derive their position from the output of a collective intelligence of the party members as well as others. If no common position has yet been developed by the party using this collaborative approach, this is openly admitted. This process creates an interesting political dynamic and high degrees of excitement with voters, as complicated issues are often shown to be what they are: highly complex and hard to resolve. This may well be attractive to and successful with voters because the younger generation is very well accustomed to this kind of deliberation it is how they work in other parts of their lives, too. However, the Pirate Party is not devoid of the typical characteristics of traditional party politics. The Pirates have had their fair share of scandals and internal debates over strategy and leadership. Its youth organisation has been accused of sexist and racist statements, and one of the partys leading members was convicted for the possession of child pornography. In Berlin, cronyism has been another issue of contention. In light of these instances, it is fair to say that the downsides of the Pirates new ways of operating are already starting to show. What Pirates fight for As shown above, the leading theme of the Pirate Party is process is more important than a clear strategy and program. This makes the party somewhat arbitrary to outsiders, and the party cannot be easily characterized by using traditional political categories. Most followers of the Pirate Party have an egalitarian approach and support politics against the top brass. The Pirates have not developed a fully-fledged program since they believe in a procedural approach without the bureaucratic structure of established parties. However, except for the general call for a free Internet, a number of political objectives can be identified: General strengthening of civil rights Reform of copyright and patent law Massive investments in education, including early child media literacy and oriented toward learning goals instead of a rigid curriculum De-facto legalization of drugs to counter what the Pirates perceive as a failed policy of prohibition Demand for universal basic income for every German citizen, regardless of current income, and which is to replace other forms of financial welfare support Commitment to a sustainability-oriented environmental policy and renewable energy Free use of municipal public transportation

It should be noted that while the party presents exciting (and somewhat extreme) ideas and demands, they currently do not present a thought-through financial concept to tackle the costs of their concepts. In line with the fact that the party does not want to be labelled politically and rejecting classical debates about left and right in politics, the Pirates frequently and happily switch their political support to draft laws or motions in the Berlin Senate, sometimes voting with the conservative Christian Democrats, or event supporting the rather extreme Left Party. A recent conflict that has caused uproar among traditional parties, the media and many actors in society has been the Pirates stance toward intellectual property rights. Linked to their core belief of a free and unrestricted Internet is their claim that intellectualcontent should be free to access by all. This has triggered a debate on the adequacy of copyright law in the digital age. What the sailors are saying about the Pirates Established German parties sway between attempts to ridicule the party (to which the name lends itself) and to find an answer to the question why voters are so fascinated by the Pirate Party. All major parties (CDU, SPD, Green Party and The Left) know that they cannot ignore the Pirates. The strategy of the Social Democrats is to drive the Pirates into the corner by nailing them down on issues. In Berlin, the first German state with Pirates in the Parliament, the results have been indeed questionable. The Pirates seem to be completely overwhelmed with politics as a day-to-day job and do not have an opinion on most issues. But the Pirates have become even more of a problem for the Green Party. Surely the two largest parties, the SPD and CDU, are losing voters to the Pirates; but it is the Green Party in particular that suffers from voter migration. What began itself as a German protest party with environmental issues on the agenda now appears to be somewhat outdated. The Greens need to attract younger voters if they dont want to become politically negligible. The biggest loser of all parties has been the German Liberal Party, who has been robbed of a large share of their ideological base by the progressive and liberal stance of the Pirate Party. For many, the Pirates are already the new liberal force in German politics. Established parties are carefully examining ways of copying pirate structures and procedures and are scrambling to formulate new approaches to politics, in order to counter what they believe to be largely populism coming from the Pirate Party. While some politicians believe that the public will become disenchanted with the Pirates once they are forced to actually deliver on their ideas on a larger scale, others see them as a political force which will change the face of German politics for good.

Challenges and recommendations for public affairs How can companies working in government relations position themselves vis--vis the Pirates? Is it okay to ignore them? To answer these questions, it is important to understand how the Pirates come to a decision. What looks like an anarchic process might actually have a lasting impact on the opinion and decisionmaking process of other parties. It is clear that members of the Pirate Party do shy away from leaving traditional paths of communication between industry members and politicians. Members of the party consider themselves warriors against lobbying and corruption. There are various examples where meeting requests of a company were published on the Pirate webpage. This happens for the sake of full transparency. It is very likely that other parties like the Liberals (FDP), Green Party and the Social Democratic Party will follow this principle in order to be attractive to voters. Given the lack of responsibilities amongst the Pirate Party, it is not yet clear who is really a relevant meeting partner. However, once the Party is no longer non-parliamentary and members will be elected for state parliaments and in September 2013 for seats in the federal German Bundestag, the Pirates will have to participate in the established traditional political processes and procedures. Voters will soon realize that there was a lot of rhetoric about nothing should the party not professionalize itself and adapt to the needs of the German parliamentary democracy. While it does not make sense to ignore the Pirate Party as a political force, it is key to consider what transparency and unorthodox ways of doing work may mean for a particular client. With more experience, more will be known about how the Pirates will function in everyday politics. General caution and a willingness to be transparent are prerequisites when entering any type of dialogue. There certainly is less of a boundary about criticizing companies or organizations directly. This needs to be clear to a client and any consultant working in public affairs. Much will have to be learned about how the Pirate Party prioritizes issues and how they carry them into the political process. It needs to be assessed what roles members craft for themselves and perhaps allow for some time to monitor before taking any type of action. Nevertheless, the rise of the German Pirate Party is indeed an interesting phenomenon which should be understood as a real chance for any company working in public affairs.

For additional questions about the German Pirate Party, please contact Christoph Mielke (CMielke@APCOWorldwide.com).

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