Abstract
The Internet and social networks have reshaped political parties, altering campaigning, member engagement, and party structures. This shift led to the rise of digital parties fostering intraparty democracy through online platforms like "Plaza Podemos" and "Rosseau." However, research indicates a darker side; these platforms can concentrate power in leaders' hands, as seen in the German Piratenpartei.
Their open-ballot system triggered privacy concerns, affecting the party's success.The article focuses on the Czech Pirate Party, successful in gaining parliamentary and regional footholds. It employs the Pirate Forum and Helios voting platform for decision-making.
A dataset of 150 National Forum votes from 2017 to 2023, covering opposition and government periods, categorizes votes and tracks membership changes. By comparing votes in different periods, the analysis explores shifts in intraparty democracy during power transitions.
This study aims to contribute to the discourse on digital parties and their evolution, spotlighting the Czech Pirate Party as a new case. It scrutinizes how power dynamics influence intraparty democracy, shedding light on the broader transformations within digital political frameworks.