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Libertarian Party (United States)

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Libertarian Party
ChairmanMark Hinkle
FoundedDecember 11, 1971
Headquarters2600 Virginia Avenue NW, Suite 200
Washington, D.C. 20037
IdeologyLibertarianism,
Cultural liberalism,
Non-interventionism,
Classical liberalism
International affiliationNone
ColorsYellow or Gold
Website
http://www.lp.org/

The Libertarian Party is the third largest[1][2][3] political party in the United States. The political platform of the Libertarian Party reflects its brand of libertarianism, favoring minimally regulated, laissez-faire markets, strong civil liberties, minimally regulated migration across borders, and non-interventionism in foreign policy that respects freedom of trade and travel to all foreign countries.[4]

In the 30 states where voters can register by party, there are over 225,000 voters registered with the party.[5] Hundreds of Libertarian candidates have been elected or appointed to public office, and thousands have run for office under the Libertarian banner.[6]

Part of a series on
Libertarianism
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Issues
Philosophers
Politicians
National variants
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History

Main article: History of the Libertarian Party (United States)

The Libertarian Party was formed in Colorado Springs in the home of David Nolan on December 11, 1971.[6] The formation was prompted in part by the Vietnam War, conscription, and the end of the Gold Standard.[7] The first Libertarian National Convention was held in June, 1972. In 1978, Dick Randolph of Alaska became the first elected Libertarian state legislator. In 1994, over 40 Libertarians were elected or appointed which was a record for the party at that time. The year 1995 saw a soaring membership and voter registration for the party. In 1996, the Libertarian Party became the first third party to earn ballot status in all 50 states two presidential elections in a row. By the end of 2009, 146 Libertarians are holding elected offices.[6]

Platform

The preamble outlines the party's goal: "As Libertarians, we seek a world of liberty; a world in which all individuals are sovereign over their own lives and no one is forced to sacrifice his or her values for the benefit of others." Its Statement of Principles begins: "We, the members of the Libertarian Party, challenge the cult of the omnipotent state and defend the rights of the individual." The platform emphasizes fantasy Little House on the Prairie notions of individual liberty in personal and economic affairs, nostalgia for a simplistic social and economic world that never really existed, ignorance of the myriad ways that thoughtful government action has actually enhanced human freedom, avoidance of "foreign entanglements" and military and economic intervention in other nations' affairs and free trade and migration, and an incoherent and contradictory view of the role of the individual in society. It calls for Constitutional limitations on government as well as the elimination of most state functions. It includes a "Self-determination" section which quotes from the Declaration of Independence and reads: "Whenever any form of government becomes destructive of individual liberty, it is the right of the people to alter or to abolish it, and to agree to such new governance as to them shall seem most likely to protect their liberty." It also includes an "Omissions" section which reads: "Our silence about any other particular government law, regulation, ordinance, directive, edict, control, regulatory agency, activity, or machination should not be construed to imply approval."[4] It will remain marginal and ineffectual due to the contradictions inherent in a politics based on extreme individualism, that is, all politics require a degree of goodwill and concern for The Other, in order to cooperate and achieve anything, which is impossible when you only care about yourself. Therefore, voting for the Libertarian Party is about as useful as Waiting for Godot.

Current structure and composition

The Libertarian National Committee (LNC) is responsible for promoting Libertarian campaign activities. While the LNC is responsible for overseeing the process of writing the Libertarian Platform, the LNC is more focused on campaign and organizational strategy than public policy. In presidential elections, it supervises the Libertarian National Convention. The 17-member Libertarian National Committee[8] (currently chaired by Mark Hinkle) is responsible for overseeing day-to-day operations of the Libertarian Party and its headquarters, in representative style.

The Libertarian National Congressional Committee (LNCC) was created by the LNC for the purpose of raising funds to elect Libertarians to the United States Congress. It is modeled after the Democratic and Republican equivalents, the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee and the National Republican Congressional Committee. Wayne Allyn Root is chair of the LNCC.[9]

State chapters

Each state also has a state committee, usually consisting of statewide officers and regional representation of one kind or another. Similarly, county, town, city and ward committees, where organized, generally consist of party members elected at the local level. State and local committees often coordinate campaign activities within their jurisdiction, oversee local conventions and in some cases primaries or caucuses, and may have a role in nominating candidates for elected office under state law.

Membership

Since its inception, individuals have been able to join the Libertarian Party by signing their agreement with the organization's membership pledge, which states that the signer does not advocate the initiation of force to achieve political or social goals. During the mid 1980s and into the early 1990s, this membership category was called an "instant" membership; currently these are referred to as "signature members".

Name and symbols

In 1972, "Libertarian Party" was chosen as the party's name, narrowly beating out "New Liberty Party."[10]

Also in 1972, the "Libersign"—an arrow angling upward through the acronym "TANSTAAFL"—was selected as the party's emblem.[10] Some time after, this was replaced with the Lady Liberty, which has, ever since, served as the party's symbol or mascot.

For many years, there has been a small movement to adopt "LP" the Liberty Penguin as the official mascot, much like the Republican elephant or the Democratic donkey. The Libertarian parties of Tennessee, North Carolina, Utah, Hawaii, Delaware and Iowa have all adopted "LP" as their mascot.[11]

The first official slogan of the Libertarian Party was "There Ain't No Such Thing as a Free Lunch" (often seen as "TANSTAAFL" for short). The current slogan of the party is "The Party of Principle".

Size and influence

Presidential candidate performance

The first Libertarian Presidential candidate, John Hospers, received one electoral vote in 1972 when Roger MacBride, a Republican faithless elector pledged to Nixon, cast his ballot for the Libertarian ticket. His vote for Theodora ("Tonie") Nathan as Vice President was the first electoral college vote ever to be cast for a woman in a US Presidential election.[12]

Results in US presidential elections

Year Candidate Popular Votes Percentage Electoral Votes
1972 John Hospers 3,674 <0.1% 1
1976 Roger MacBride 172,553 0.21% 0
1980 Ed Clark 921,128 1.1% 0
1984 David Bergland 228,111 0.3% 0
1988 Ron Paul 431,750 0.5% 0
1992 Andre Marrou 290,087 0.3% 0
1996 Harry Browne 485,759 0.5% 0
2000 Harry Browne 384,431 0.4% 0
2004 Michael Badnarik 397,265 0.32% 0
2008 Bob Barr 523,686 0.4% 0

Earning ballot status

Historically, Libertarians have also achieved 50-state ballot access for their presidential candidate three times, in 1980, 1992, and 1996 (in 2000 L. Neil Smith was on the Arizona ballot instead of the nominee, Harry Browne).[13]

Party supporters

In the Libertarian Party, some donors are not necessarily "members", because the Party since its founding in 1972 has defined a "member" as being someone who agrees with the Party's membership statement. The precise language of this statement is found in the Party Bylaws.[14] There were 115,401 Americans who were on record as having signed the membership statement as of the most recent report.[15]

There is another measure the Party uses internally as well. Since its founding, the Party has apportioned delegate seats to its national convention based on the number of members in each state who have paid minimum dues (with additional delegates given to state affiliates for good performance in winning more votes than normal for the Party's presidential candidate). This is the most-used number by Party activists. As of December 31, 2006, the Libertarian Party reported that there were 15,505 donating members[citation needed]. 1,108 of the donors gave the federal minimum ($200) or more for required individually itemized contributions.[16]

Historically, dues were $15 throughout the 1980s; in 1991, they were increased to $25. Between February 1, 2006 and the close of the 2006 Libertarian party convention on May 31, 2006, dues were set to $0.[17] However, the change to $0 dues was controversial and was de facto reversed by the 2006 national convention in Portland, Oregon; at which the members re-established a basic $25 dues category (now called Sustaining membership), and further added a requirement that all National Committee officers must henceforth be at least Sustaining members (this was not required prior to the convention).

A survey by David Kirby and David Boaz found a minimum of 14 percent American voters to have libertarian-leaning views.[18][19]

Election victories

Libertarians have had mixed success in electing candidates at the state and local level. Following the 2002 elections, according to its site,[20] 599 Libertarians held elected or appointed local offices and appointed state offices. As of January 2010, 143 Libertarians Nationwide, hold elected office: 31 of them partisan offices, and 112 of them non-partisan offices.[21] Since the party's creation, twelve Libertarians have been elected to state legislatures, though none hold office currently. The most recent Libertarian candidate elected to a state legislatures was Steve Vaillancourt to the New Hampshire House of Representatives in 2000. Vaillancourt, a Democratic member of the House with libertarian leanings, had lost the Democratic primary for a seat in the New Hampshire Senate that year and accepted the Libertarian nomination so as to keep his House seat.[22]

Nationwide, there are 153 Libertarians holding elected office: 38 of them partisan offices, and 115 of them non-partisan offices.[23]

Best results in major races

Some Libertarian candidates for state office have performed relatively strongly in statewide races. In two Massachusetts Senate races (2000 and 2002), Libertarian candidates Carla Howell and Michael Cloud, who did not face serious Republican contenders (in 2002 the candidate failed to make the ballot), received a party record-setting 11.9% and 16.7% [24] respectively. In Indiana's 2006 US Senate race, which lacked a Democratic candidate, Steve Osborn received 12.6% of the vote. In 2002, Ed Thompson, the brother of former Wisconsin Governor Tommy Thompson, received 11% of the vote (best ever Libertarian result for Governor) running for the same office, resulting in a seat on the state elections board for the Libertarian Party, the only such seat for a third party in the U.S.[citation needed]

Registration by party

Ballot access expert Richard Winger, the editor of Ballot Access News, periodically compiles and analyzes voter registration statistics as reported by state voter agencies, and he reports that as of March 2008, the Libertarians ranked sixth in voter registration nationally.[25]

Ballot access

As of September 23, 2008, the Libertarian Party is on the ballot in 46 states for 2008;[26] it is not on the ballot in Connecticut, Maine, Oklahoma, or West Virginia.

Ballot access only for presidential candidate

Working on ballot access

There are a number of states currently in the process of gaining Libertarian ballot access (in court or by petition) either for the party as a whole or just for the party's 2008 presidential nominee.[27]

  1. Oklahoma — lawsuit against Oklahoma's ban on out-of-state circulators is currently pending in the 10th circuit.[28]

Internal debates

"Principle" vs. "Pragmatism" debate

The debate that has survived the longest is referred to by libertarians as the anarchist-minarchist debate. In 1974, anarchists and minarchists within the Party agreed to "cease fire" about the specific question of whether governments should exist at all, and focus on promoting voluntary solutions to the problems caused by government instead. Another debate was created by Mike Hihn's claim that the term libertarianism has been used by anarchists longer than by minarchists.[29] A related internal discussion concerns the philosophical divide over whether the Party should aim to be mainstream and pragmatic, or whether it should focus on being consistent and principled.

In the opinion of some, members who emphasize "principle," even at the expense of electoral success, have dominated the party since the early 1980s. The departure of Ed Crane (of the Cato Institute, a libertarian think tank) is often cited as a key turning point.[citation needed] Crane, who in the 1970s had been the party's first Executive Director, and some of his allies resigned from the Party in 1983 when their preferred candidates for national committee seats lost in the elections at the national convention.

The debate quieted for a time, then arose again in the mid-1990s, when a "Committee for a Libertarian Majority" (CLM) was formed and met in Atlanta, Georgia, and worked up several proposals to alter many aspects of the Libertarian Party's operations. Two of their proposals (substantially altering the platform and abolishing the membership pledge) attracted a lot of attention and opposition sprang up in the form of another committee called PLEDGE. In the long run, CLM's proposals attracted some support at the national convention but did not prevail.

Beginning in roughly 2004, the debate arose anew, with the formation of several reform ("pragmatist") groups, such as the Libertarian Reform Caucus, the Libertarian Party Reform Caucus (now defunct), and the Real World Libertarian Caucus (now defunct). These groups generally advocate(d) revising the party's platform, eliminating or altering the membership statement, and focusing on a politics-oriented approach aimed at presenting libertarianism to voters in what they deemed a "less threatening" manner. As in the past, groups promoting a more strident interpretation of libertarian principles, such as the LPRadicals and the Rothbard Caucus, have emerged in response.[citation needed]

The 2008 saw the wholesale adoption of pragmatist viewpoints in the new platform, and the nomination of former Congressman Bob Barr for president.[citation needed]

Abortion

See also: Libertarian perspectives on abortion

In the early 1980s, Libertarians for Life was formed to support a change in the Party's pro-choice stance. To some extent, those efforts succeeded as the platform was eventually altered to acknowledge that many Libertarians consider themselves to be pro-life. Conversely, in 1987, another group of Party members were concerned that Dr. Ron Paul (at the time seeking the Party's presidential nomination) might promote his belief that all abortion (from the time of conception) should be outlawed by the states, and thereby confuse voters about the Party's actual platform stance. This group formed Pro-Choice Libertarians and most members supported Paul's opponent, Russell Means. Once the nomination went to Paul, they continued their efforts to dissuade him from making an issue of abortion.[30] The party platform today states that there are libertarians of "good faith" on both sides of the issue.

Intervention in Afghanistan

On September 13, 2001, just two days after the September 11 attacks and in response to what they saw as ambiguous statements about U.S. intervention in Afghanistan by the Libertarian National Committee, party members formed Libertarians for Peace to encourage the party to continue promoting a consistent non-interventionist position.

Platform revision

In 1999 a working group of leading LP activists proposed to reformat and retire the platform to serve as a guide for legislative projects (its main purpose to that point) and create a series of custom platforms on current issues for different purposes, including the needs of the growing number of Libertarians in office. The proposal was incorporated in a new party-wide strategic plan and a joint platform-program committee proposed a reformatted project platform that isolated talking points on issues, principles and solutions, and an array of projects for adaptation. This platform, along with a short Summary for talking points, was approved in 2004. Confusion arose when prior to the 2006 convention, there was a push to repeal or substantially rewrite the Platform, at the center of which were groups such as the Libertarian Reform Caucus.[31] Their agenda was partially successful in that the current platform was much shortened (going from 61 to 15 planks – 11 new planks and 4 retained from the old platform) over the previous one.[32]

Members differ as to the reasons why the changes were relatively more drastic than any platform actions at previous conventions. Some delegates voted for changes so the Party could appeal to a wider audience, while others simply thought the entire document needed an overhaul. It was also pointed out that the text of the existing platform was not provided to the delegates, making many reluctant to vote to retain the planks when the existing language wasn't provided for review.[33][unreliable source?]

Not all party members approved of the changes, some believing them to be a setback to libertarianism[34] and an abandonment of what they see as the most important purpose of the Libertarian Party.[35]

At the 2008 national convention, the changes went even further; with the approval of an entirely revamped platform. Much of the new platform recycles language from platforms going back to 1972. While the planks were renamed, most address ideas found in earlier platforms and run no longer than three to four sentences. Members of the program committee point to its being a version of a proposal approved in 2001.[citation needed]

Membership dues

In mid-2005, the Libertarian National Committee voted on a motion by then-LNC member George Squyres to eliminate all dues for membership in the national Libertarian Party, effective January 1, 2006.[17] However, this change was extremely controversial. Opponents pointed out to LNC members that there was already a "free" membership category– under the party's bylaws, one needed only sign the membership statement. They argued that Squyres' proposal merely changed delegate apportionment and nothing else; and thus was basically "window dressing". Ultimately, the members at the 2006 national convention overturned the decision in Portland, Oregon. The members re-established a basic $25 dues category (now called Sustaining membership), and further added a requirement that all National Committee officers must henceforth be at least Sustaining members (this was not required prior to the convention).

Internal caucuses

See also

References

  1. ^ Raymond A. Smith and Donald P. Haider-Markel, Gay and Lesbian Americans and Political Participation: A Reference Handbook, p. 170, ABC-CLIO, 2002, ISBN 9781576072561, "The Libertarian Party is the third largest political party in the United States."
  2. ^ Elizabeth Hovde, Americans mixed on Obama's big government gamble, OregonLive.com, May 11, 2009.
  3. ^ Gairdner, William D. (2007). The Trouble with Canada: A Citizen Speaks Out. BPS Books. pp. 101–102. ISBN 9780978440220. The first, we would call "libertarianism" today. Libertarians wanted to get all government out of people's lives. This movement is still very much alive today. In fact, in the United States, it is the third largest political party, and ran 125 candidates during the U.S. election of 1988.
  4. ^ a b "Libertarian Party:Platform", Official Website of the Libertarian National Committee. Retrieved on July 20, 2008.
  5. ^ "2008 Registration Totals". Ballot-access.org. Retrieved 2010-07-19.
  6. ^ a b c Libertarian Party:Our History, LP.org
  7. ^ Michael Patrick Murphy, The Government, p. 555, iUniverse, 2004, ISBN 9780595308637.
  8. ^ Libertarian Party National Committee
  9. ^ Root Elected Chairman of Libertarian National Congressional Committee (LNCC), Libertarian Party web site, July 13, 2010.
  10. ^ a b Winter, Bill, "1971–2001: The Libertarian Party's 30th Anniversary Year: Remembering the first three decades of America's 'Party of Principle'" LP News
  11. ^ "LP" The Liberty PenguinTM. Retrieved 8 December 2007.
  12. ^ "Faithless Electors", Center for Voting and Democracy. Retrieved on July 25, 2006.
  13. ^ "Arizona November 2000 General Election". Thegreenpapers.com. Retrieved 2010-07-19.
  14. ^ Official Bylaws of the Libertarian Party. Retrieved May 14, 2007
  15. ^ Membership Report prepared 04/12/2004 for cutoff of 03/31/2004, circulated by the LNC. Retrieved May 14, 2007
  16. ^ http://query.nictusa.com/cgi-bin/com_ind/2005_C00255695
  17. ^ a b "LNC Approves Zero Dues", LP News, September 1, 2005. Retrieved on July 25, 2006.
  18. ^ David Boaz, How Many Libertarian Voters Are There? Cato@Liberty, Cato Institute.
  19. ^ David Kirby and David Boaz, The Libertarian Vote in the Age of Obama, Policy Analysis, p. 1, Cato Institute, January 21, 2010.
  20. ^ website "[1]"
  21. ^ "Elected Officials | Libertarian Party". Lp.org. Retrieved 2010-07-19.
  22. ^ Ballot Access News. "Former Libertarian Legislative Nominee Plays Key Role in Ongoing New Hampshire Same-Sex Marriage Bill", May 20, 2009. Retrieved on July 18, 2009.
  23. ^ "Elected-Officials; Libertarian Party". Lp.org. Retrieved 2010-08-03.
  24. ^ "2002 ELECTION STATISTICS". Clerk.house.gov. Retrieved 2010-07-19.
  25. ^ "Ballot Access News, March 1, 2008– "Early 2008 Registration Totals". Retrieved July 5, 2008.
  26. ^ "Libertarian ballot access" from Libertarian Party Website
  27. ^ 2008 PETITIONING FOR PRESIDENT Ballot Access News
  28. ^ "Oklahoma ballot access initiative doomed by oklahoma initiative restrictions"
  29. ^ The Dallas Accord, Minarchists, and why our members sign a pledge, by Mike Hihn, in the "Washington Libertarian", July 1997. Retrieved on May 14, 2007
  30. ^ Susan Gilmore, "Abortion most debatable issue on eve of Libertarian Party convention," Seattle Times, September 2, 1987.
  31. ^ "Victory in Portland! Libertarian Reform Caucus"
  32. ^ National Platform of the Libertarian Party, Official Website of the Libertarian National Committee. Retrieved on July 25, 2006
  33. ^ "Portland and the LP Platform: The Perfect Storm", a review by George Squyres, Platform Committee chairman. Retrieved on November 2, 2006.
  34. ^ "The LP's Turkish Delight by Llewellyn H. Rockwell, Jr.".
  35. ^ L.K. Samuels, Evicting Libertarian Party Principles: The Portland Purge, LewRockwell.com, July 7, 2006.

Further reading

Previous presidential candidates campaign sites

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