Digitalization of the Digitalized Ones: The Czech Pirate Party and its Online Congresses

The digitalization of political parties and modern technologies are the reflections of the 21st century and gradual modernization. The degree of digitalization of individual parties varies significantly across countries and party systems. In the case of the Czech party system, it can be said that the most digitalized party has been the Czech Pirate Party since its inception. The internal organization and the level of use of modern technologies have, of course, changed over time in this case as well. This one-case qualitatively oriented study focuses on the gradual digitalization of the Czech Pirate Party, due to the Covid-19 pandemic. The Czech Pirate Party has transferred its last two online congresses (National Forums) to the online environment. The party used its own developed tool, CF 2021. Although this was a unique solution for Czech political parties, the Pirates did not avoid partial technical problems, which indicates that technology may not always be reliable.