| Libertarian Party | |
|---|---|
| Chairman | Mark Hinkle |
| Founded | December 11, 1971 |
| Headquarters | 2600 Virginia Avenue NW, Suite 200 Washington, D.C. 20037 |
| Ideology | Libertarianism, Minarchism, Cultural liberalism, Non-interventionism, Classical liberalism |
| Political position |
Fiscal: Conservative Social: Liberal [1] |
| International affiliation | Interlibertarians |
| Official colors | Yellow or gold |
| Seats in the Senate |
0 / 100
|
| Seats in the House |
0 / 435
|
| Governorships |
0 / 50
|
| State Upper Houses |
0 / 1,921
|
| State Lower Houses |
1 / 5,410
|
| Website | |
| http://www.lp.org/ | |
The Libertarian Party is the third largest[2] and fastest growing[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, i.e., avoiding foreign military or economic entanglements with other nations and respect for 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] The Libertarian Party has many firsts in its credit such as the first party to get an electoral vote for a woman.[7]
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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.[8] 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 were holding elected offices.
The Libertarian Party is the first party to earn an electoral vote for a woman. In the 1972 Presidential Election John Hospers ran for president on the Libertarian Ticket, with his running mate, Tonie Nathan (a woman). The team earned one electoral vote in that election, making history.[6][7]
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 individual liberty in personal and economic affairs, avoidance of "foreign entanglements" and military and economic intervention in other nations' affairs and free trade and migration. 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]
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[9] (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.[10]
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 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.
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".
In 1972, "Libertarian Party" was chosen as the party's name, narrowly beating out "New Liberty Party."[11]
Also in 1972, the "Libersign"—an arrow angling upward through the abbreviation "TANSTAAFL" (There Ain't No Such Thing As A Free Lunch)—was selected as the party's emblem.[11] 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.[12]
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), a phrase popularized by Robert A Heinlein in his 1966 novel The Moon Is A Harsh Mistress, sometimes dubbed "a manifesto for a libertarian revolution". The current slogan of the party is "The Party of Principle".
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 U.S. Presidential election.[13]
| Year | Pres. Candidate / VP | Popular Votes | Percentage | Electoral Votes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1972 | John Hospers / Toni Nathan | 3,674 | <0.1% | 1 |
| 1976 | Roger MacBride / David Bergland | 172,553 | 0.21% | 0 |
| 1980 | Ed Clark / David Koch | 921,128 | 1.1% | 0 |
| 1984 | David Bergland / Jim Lewis | 228,111 | 0.3% | 0 |
| 1988 | Ron Paul / Andre Marrou | 431,750 | 0.5% | 0 |
| 1992 | Andre Marrou / Nancy Lord | 290,087 | 0.3% | 0 |
| 1996 | Harry Browne / Jo Jorgensen | 485,759 | 0.5% | 0 |
| 2000 | Harry Browne / Art Oliver | 384,431 | 0.4% | 0 |
| 2004 | Michael Badnarik / Richard Campagna | 397,265 | 0.32% | 0 |
| 2008 | Bob Barr / Wayne Allyn Root | 523,686 | 0.4% | 0 |
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).[14]
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.[15] There were 115,401 Americans who were on record as having signed the membership statement as of the most recent report.[16]
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. 1,108 of the donors gave the federal minimum ($200) or more for required individually itemized contributions.[17]
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.[18] 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.[19][20]
Libertarians have had mixed success in electing candidates at the state and local level. Following the 2002 elections, according to its site,[21] 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.[22] 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.[23]
Nationwide, there are 157 Libertarians holding elected office: 38 of them partisan offices, and 119 of them non-partisan offices.[24]
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 18.4% [25] respectively. In Indiana's 2006 U.S. 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.
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 October 2010, the Libertarians ranked fifth in voter registration nationally with 278,446 (Ballot Access News, December 2010, p. 4). [26]
During the 2008 United States Presidential election, the Libertarian Party gained ballot access in 46 states plus the District of Columbia;[27] it did not gain ballot access in Connecticut, Maine, Oklahoma, or West Virginia.
The Libertarian Party adopts civil libertarian and cultural liberal approach to cultural and social issues, and laissez-faire approach to economic issues. Paul H. Rubin, professor of law and economics at Emory University, noted while liberal Democrats generally seek to control economic activities and conservative Republicans generally seek to control consumption activities such as sexual behavior, abortion etc., the Libertarian Party is the largest political party in the United States that advocates little or no regulations in both social and economic issues (both personal freedom and economic freedom).[28]
The Libertarian Party's platform opposes intervention in the economy. According to the party platform "The only proper role of government in the economic realm is to protect property rights, adjudicate disputes, and provide a legal framework in which voluntary trade is protected." - Libertarian Party Platform, Section 2.0 (adopted: May 2008) [29]
The Libertarian Party believes government regulations in the form of minimum wage laws drive up the cost of employing additional workers.[30] This is why Libertarians favor repealing minimum wage laws so that overall unemployment rate can be reduced and low-wage workers, unskilled workers, visa immigrants, and those with limited education or job experience can find employment.[31]
The Libertarian Party supports legalization of drugs,[32][33][34][35] pornography,[32] prostitution,[32][33][34][35] gambling,[36] removal of restrictions on homosexuality,[34] opposes any kind of censorship and supports freedom of speech,[37] and supports the right to keep and bear arms.[33] The Libertarian Party's platform states: "Government does not have the authority to define, license or restrict personal relationships. Consenting adults should be free to choose their own sexual practices and personal relationships."[38]
The Libertarian party does not have a unified stance when it comes to Abortion.
The Libertarian Party supports unrestricted freedom of speech and is opposed to any kind of censorship. The party describes the issue in its website: "We defend the rights of individuals to unrestricted freedom of speech, freedom of the press and the right of individuals to dissent from government itself.... We oppose any abridgment of the freedom of speech through government censorship, regulation or control of communications media." The party claims it is the only political party in the United States "with an explicit stand against censorship of computer communications in its platform."[37]
The Libertarian Party advocates repealing all laws that control or prohibit homosexuality.[39] According to the Libertarian Party's platform, "Sexual orientation, preference, gender, or gender identity should have no impact on the government's treatment of individuals, such as in current marriage, child custody, adoption, immigration or military service laws."[38]
In 2009, the Libertarian Party of Washington encouraged voters to approve Washington Referendum 71 that extended LGBT relationship rights. According to the party, withholding domestic partnership rights from same-sex couples is a violation of the Equal Protection Clause of the Constitution.[40] In September 2010, in the light of the failure to repeal "don’t ask, don’t tell" policy (which bans openly gay people from the military) during the Obama administration, the Libertarian Party urged gay voters to stop supporting the Democrats.[41] The policy was repealed by the end of 2010.[42]
Outright Libertarians is an association of gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgendered people who are active in the Libertarian Party. Gay Libertarian Richard Sincere has pointed to the long record of support for homosexuality in the party. Several LGBT political candidates have run for office on the Libertarian Party ticket.[43]
The Libertarian Party views attempts by government to control obscenity or pornography as "an abridgment of liberty of expression"[37] and opposes any government intervention to regulate it. According to Libertarian National Committee Chairman Mark Hinkle, "Federal anti-obscenity laws are unconstitutional in two ways. First, because the Constitution does not grant Congress any power to regulate or criminalize obscenity. And second, because the First Amendment guarantees the right of free speech."[44]
The Libertarian Party supports the legalization of prostitution.[32][33][34][35] Many men and women[45][46][47][48] with background in prostitution and activists for sex workers' rights, such as Norma Jean Almodovar [45][46] and Starchild[47][48], have run for office on the Libertarian Party ticket or are active members of the party. Ex-call girl Norma Jean Almodovar ran on Libertarian Party ticket in Los Angeles during the 1980s and was actively supported by the party. Mark Hinkle described her as being the most able "of any Libertarian" "to generate publicity".[45] The Massachusetts Libertarian Party was one of the few organizations to support a 1980s campaign to repeal prostitution laws.[49]
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.[50] 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. 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. LPRadicals emerged in response and was active at the 2008 and 2010 Libertarian National Conventions.[51][52][53]
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.
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.[54] 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.[55]
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.[56]
Not all party members approved of the changes, some believing them to be a setback to libertarianism[57] and an abandonment of what they see as the most important purpose of the Libertarian Party.[58]
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.
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