5 ms·

My understanding is that when pirate parties actually got some amount of power (by getting into the legislature) in other countries, things got weird, by nature

My understanding is that when pirate parties actually got some amount of power (by getting into the legislature) in other countries, things got weird, by nature of them having to establish policy positions on lots of stuff other than IP law. Like suddenly you need a position on green energy and foreign interventions and public teacher salaries and zoning and all the other things a regular party is gonna have to vote on. And this conflicted with how they got popularity and power, which was by being largely single issue.

zajio1am 5y ago
> And this conflicted with how they got popularity and power, which was by being largely single issue In Czechia (where a pirate party is currently a part of the government) it was IMHO quite the reverse - the Czech Pirate Party mostly gained popularity by accenting ordinary center-liberal political themes.
- cuddlybacon 5y ago
  It's hard to gain too much insight from Wikipedia, but it looks like it fills a niche that was empty. The Pirate Party of Canada used to be quite active on r/CanadaPolitics. Once they fleshed out their platform they ended up overlapping heavily with the NDP and Greens (particularly the Greens). I think many Pirate Parties have fallen into similar traps when they fleshed out their platform.
  - zajio1am 5y ago
    > It's hard to gain too much insight from Wikipedia, but it looks like it fills a niche that was empty. Yes, pretty much. There are Greens in Czechia but they are more left-progressive (compared to center-liberal pirates) and they are unacceptable for many because of their anti-nuclear position.
- inglor_cz 5y ago
  ... and put the ideas about IP reform on the back burner, to my dismay.
AnthonyMouse 5y ago
The main means for a third party to win seats in the US would be if they went into districts which are effectively uncontested because they're >70% blue or red, so the other major party isn't even running a candidate for you to split the vote with. Then the winning platform in that district would be the one where you're mostly aligned with the party currently occupying that seat but differ on the pirate issues. So you'd end up with a blue pirate party and a red pirate party based on which district they're running in. They would work with each other on pirate issues, but they'd generally caucus with different major parties on a per-district basis. It might also help to prioritize getting range voting or STAR voting so this would stop being necessary.
- gnopgnip 5y ago
  There are parts of the US that don't use first past the post voting. NYC is one prominent example that uses ranked choice. Many of these alternative voting systems make it easier for a candidate that is not part of the main two parties to get elected. Also even if this party does not have success, just by running they can change the other candidates policies
  - iszomer 5y ago
    > NYC is one prominent example that uses ranked choice. Only implemented recently iirc.
  - rjtavares 5y ago
    As long as there are single-member districts it's basically impossible for a third party to gain a large representation. I'm sure that's the main reason for the US and UK huge polarity in politics. I quite like the German model: > Every elector has two votes: a constituency vote (first vote) and a party list vote (second vote). Based solely on the first votes, 299 members are elected in single-member constituencies by first-past-the-post voting. The second votes are used to produce a proportional number of seats for parties, first in the states, and then on the federal level. (from wikipedia)
    - 5y ago

zajio1am 5y ago

> And this conflicted with how they got popularity and power, which was by being largely single issue In Czechia (where a pirate party is currently a part of the government) it was IMHO quite the reverse - the Czech Pirate Party mostly gained popularity by accenting ordinary center-liberal political themes.

cuddlybacon 5y ago
It's hard to gain too much insight from Wikipedia, but it looks like it fills a niche that was empty. The Pirate Party of Canada used to be quite active on r/CanadaPolitics. Once they fleshed out their platform they ended up overlapping heavily with the NDP and Greens (particularly the Greens). I think many Pirate Parties have fallen into similar traps when they fleshed out their platform.
- zajio1am 5y ago
  > It's hard to gain too much insight from Wikipedia, but it looks like it fills a niche that was empty. Yes, pretty much. There are Greens in Czechia but they are more left-progressive (compared to center-liberal pirates) and they are unacceptable for many because of their anti-nuclear position.
inglor_cz 5y ago
... and put the ideas about IP reform on the back burner, to my dismay.

AnthonyMouse 5y ago

The main means for a third party to win seats in the US would be if they went into districts which are effectively uncontested because they're >70% blue or red, so the other major party isn't even running a candidate for you to split the vote with. Then the winning platform in that district would be the one where you're mostly aligned with the party currently occupying that seat but differ on the pirate issues. So you'd end up with a blue pirate party and a red pirate party based on which district they're running in. They would work with each other on pirate issues, but they'd generally caucus with different major parties on a per-district basis. It might also help to prioritize getting range voting or STAR voting so this would stop being necessary.

gnopgnip 5y ago
There are parts of the US that don't use first past the post voting. NYC is one prominent example that uses ranked choice. Many of these alternative voting systems make it easier for a candidate that is not part of the main two parties to get elected. Also even if this party does not have success, just by running they can change the other candidates policies
- iszomer 5y ago
  > NYC is one prominent example that uses ranked choice. Only implemented recently iirc.
- rjtavares 5y ago
  As long as there are single-member districts it's basically impossible for a third party to gain a large representation. I'm sure that's the main reason for the US and UK huge polarity in politics. I quite like the German model: > Every elector has two votes: a constituency vote (first vote) and a party list vote (second vote). Based solely on the first votes, 299 members are elected in single-member constituencies by first-past-the-post voting. The second votes are used to produce a proportional number of seats for parties, first in the states, and then on the federal level. (from wikipedia)
  - 5y ago