With its standing up for the rights of individuals in the digital world, The Pirate Party is far from a traditional political movement. If you needed proof, just look at what its UK arm is doing – crowdsourcing its policies on Reddit in a project called Steal This Manifesto.
The Policy 2011 page on Reddit is designed to let the public suggest policy ideas for the party to consider for the year ahead. As with any Reddit page, users can vote ideas up and down. It’s a very 21st Century way of pooling ideas, and while it’s unlikely that more established parties would go down the same route, the lively and savvy Reddit audience is probably a good fit for the Pirate Party.
Following on from the recent success of the Pirate Party in Berlin, other groups in the movement around the world are looking to replicate this by getting elected to positions of power.
In our recent interview with Pirate Party UK leader Loz Kaye, we discussed the difficulty that the Pirate Party has with establishing a clear policy line on issues beyond things like Internet piracy and copyright law. What should the Pirate Party believe when it comes to education or law and order? This open approach could help identify popular policies among members.
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The Reddit-based project runs until 3 November 2011.
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