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  • On October 29th, 2016 Iceland will hold a general election.

  • One of the most surprising political parties in this election is being hailed as the likely

  • next leading party: The Pirate Party.

  • Polling from April 2016, just following the Panama Papers scandal which ousted the country’s

  • Prime Minister, showed the Pirate Party with 43% support, an unprecedented amount for an

  • only four year old group.

  • So, just how powerful is the Pirate Party?

  • Well, the Pirate Party in Iceland is actually just one of a number of so-called Pirate Parties

  • around the world.

  • The original was named afterThe Pirate Bay”, an online repository of torrents which

  • was publicly targeted by US copyright groups.

  • In response, a single issue party arose in Sweden, advocating for very limited copyright

  • protections in the interest of societal improvement, including unlimited non-commercial use and

  • a shorter period of exclusive economic copyright.

  • The so-called Swedish Pirate Party saw a lot of online support, and eventually was able

  • to petition to be listed on the ballot for national legislative elections.

  • Within just a few years, Pirate Party members were elected into Swedish Parliament, and

  • two Pirate Party members even made it into the European Parliament.

  • In Berlin Germany, their Pirate Party was able to secure 15 seats in state parliament.

  • Their success inspired a number of similar parties, branching past the single issue of

  • copyright, and all unified by what is called theCore Policy”.

  • Each party has a similarly phrased number of policy points.

  • The first emphasizesCritical thinking and well-informed policy”.

  • This encourages policy decisions on the basis of data and information, regardless of their

  • source or initial desirability.

  • The second branch secures the population’s civil rights.

  • These include the right for all people to vote, freedom of religion, expression, and

  • the press, as well as the right to engage in peaceful protests.

  • Third is a right to privacy, including anonymity and self-determination.

  • The party clarifies that secrecy should not be so great that it affects other individuals,

  • and that anonymity doesn’t mean people are not responsible for their actions.

  • On an aside, in 2013 the Icelandic Pirate Party attempted to introduce legislation which

  • would grant Edward Snowden citizenship, at a time when the US had revoked his passport.

  • The legislation was ultimately unsupported.

  • A fourth important portion of the core policy is to maintain transparency so that the powerless

  • can monitor the powerful.

  • This includes making information easily accessible, and allowing citizens a say in affairs that

  • involve them directly, including unlimited information related to those affairs.

  • The second to last point re-stresses freedom of information, but specifically to delineate

  • that the ability to collect and share information should only be overruled to protect individual

  • rights.

  • The same idea is applied to a freedom of expression.

  • Finally, the Pirate Party promotes a direct democracy, where voters are directly engaged

  • and involved in policy matters and electing public officials.

  • During an age of global surveillance, threats on freedom of expression, and an increasingly

  • opaque international web of governments, the Pirate Party’s success is not altogether

  • surprising.

  • Iceland’s tiny population of just over 300,000, allows it greater freedom to experiment with

  • alternative and new political theories.

  • Although small, the party’s activism roots and youth-oriented progressive ideas have

  • resonated with Icelandic voters.

  • Barring an unexpected defeat, Iceland may soon be run by a political offshoot of a torrent

  • website.

  • It is truly 2016.

On October 29th, 2016 Iceland will hold a general election.

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冰島的海盜黨有多強大? (How Powerful Is Iceland's Pirate Party?)

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    BH 發佈於 2021 年 01 月 14 日
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