Hitting Double Digit Support, the German Pirate Party Sets Sail For The Political Arena

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Following its landmark win in Berlin's recent state-level elections, where the German Pirate Party received 15 seats in State Parliament, the Pirates continue to gain support- reaching double-digit numbers in public opinion polls, for the first time.

Of particular significance is the fact that, since the 2009 federal elections, the German Pirate Party has nearly quintupled its voter base- going from 2% to about 10% of the total vote.

Here is an animation, made by Taiwan's Next Media Association, which I think is a neat little summary:



One way of looking at the success of the Pirate Party phenomenon has been suggested by Helen Pidd of The Guardian. She argues that the Pirates' increasing should not be considered simply a "Berlin anomaly." Rather, it should be considered part of a wider European trend towards support of radical leftist (or rightist) parties, which may ultimately disagree with one another on the particularities of policy- but who can agree that the traditional, customary method of politics is no longer working.