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A member of the German Pirate Party, with its logo shaved in his hair, attends the party's two-day conference in Neumuenster, Germany, on April 28.

A member of the German Pirate Party, with its logo shaved in his hair, attends the party's two-day conference in Neumuenster, Germany, on April 28.

They don't have a plan to save the euro or draw down the war in Afghanistan, nor do they have clear policies on an array of issues, but the German Pirate Party is winning converts and elections with its vision of digital democracy through "liquid feedback."

Despite public relations mishaps and a haphazard organizational structure, the Pirate Party is shaking up the stolid, bureaucratic world of German politics and jolting rival parties with its rising popularity.

Supporters of the Pirate Party react after early results are announced during elections in Duesseldorf, Germany, on May 13.

Supporters of the Pirate Party react after early results are announced during elections in Duesseldorf, Germany, on May 13.

On Tuesday night in Neukolln, a disheveled yet trendy Berlin district, the Kinski Bar buzzes like it's the weekend. The sparsely furnished tavern is filled with casually dressed 20-somethings chatting, laughing, smoking and debating in between bites of pizza and sips of cheap draft beer. As it is every Tuesday, it's Pirate Party night. It's a night for political discussion, not a party party, but it can sometimes be hard to tell the difference.

"Many things of the Pirates are so unprofessional and thereby so charming that you see, 'Well what they can do, I can do also; I can contribute to this,' " says 29-year-old Thorsten Fischer. Dressed in a casual, hip outfit of a pastel-colored T-shirt, skinny jeans and a smart haircut, Fischer belies the image painted in some of the German press that the Pirates are all computer nerds.

Fischer is now working on his second startup company, developing an app for mobile devices. In some ways his entrepreneurial spirit brought him to the Pirates. He says he was attracted by the party's tech savvy, libertarianism that stresses freedom of expression, transparency in government and Internet freedom.

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A Party On The Rise, Germany's Pirates Come Ashore