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The Libertarian Party is a United States political party created in 1971. It claims to be the largest third party in the United States although others dispute this claim (see below for a full discussion of the issue).
The party does not presently hold any major office in the United States, such as Senator or governor, nor does it posess any seats in the United States House of Representatives. No Libertarian has ever won election to federal or statewide office, though hundreds have been elected to various local offices.
The stated platform of the Libertarian Party holds some positions that are considered on the far left and others that are considered on the far right. Unlike traditional "left" parties, Libertarians favor minimally regulated, laissez-faire markets; unlike traditional "right" parties, Libertarians favor social freedom including legalization of drugs and strong civil liberties.
Platform
Key tenets of the Libertarian Party platform include the following: Libertarians claim that their platform follows from the ultimate value of individual liberty. In their "Statement of Principles," they say "We hold that all individuals have the right to exercise sole dominion over their own lives, and have the right to live in whatever manner they choose, so long as they do not forcibly interfere with the equal right of others to live in whatever manner they choose." To this end, Libertarians want to reduce the size of government (eliminating many of its current functions entirely), and "support the repeal of all taxation"[1] (http://www.lp.org/issues/platform/taxation.html).
Many Americans view politics on a spectrum between left and right, with the Democrats representing the center-left, and Republicans representing the center-right. Libertarians reject this description of political positions; instead, Libertarians refer people to the Nolan chart to communicate their perception of the political spectrum.
Many political commentators cannot seem to agree on how to classify the Libertarian Party. Prominent conservative Ann Coulter has accused the Libertarians of being a single-issue party because she disagrees with them on the Drug War, while others accuse Libertarians of focusing predominantly on issues of market regulation.
Within the larger framework of libertarian politics, the Libertarian Party's platform falls roughly in the realm of free market minarchism. The party advocates limiting the government as much as possible, within the framework of the United States Constitution. As in any political party, there is some internal disagreement about the platform, and not all the party's supporters advocate its complete or immediate implementation, but most think that the USA would benefit from most of the Libertarian Party's proposed changes. However, a few Libertarians are actually anarcho-capitalists who view minarchy as a first step towards the abolition of government.
History
The Libertarian Party was formed in the home of David Nolan on 11 December 1971, after several months of debate among members of the Committee to Form a Libertarian Party. This group included John Hospers, Edward Crane, Manual Klausner, Murray Rothbard, R.A. Childs, Theodora Nathan, and Jim Dean. Prompted in part by price controls implemented by President Richard Nixon, the Libertarian Party viewed the dominant Republican and Democratic parties as having diverged from what they viewed as the libertarian principles of the American founding fathers towards more authoritarian political positions.
By the 1972 presidential election, the party had grown to over 80 members and had attained ballot access in two states. Their presidential ticket, John Hospers and Theodora Nathan, earned fewer than 3,000 votes, but received the first and only electoral college vote for a Libertarian ticket, from Roger MacBride of Virginia, who was pledged to Richard Nixon. His was the first vote ever cast for a woman in the United States Electoral College. MacBride became the party's presidential nominee in the 1976 presidential election.
In the 1980 presidential contest, the Libertarian Party gained ballot access in every state, the first party to accomplish this since the Socialist Party in 1916. The ticket of Ed Clark and David H. Koch spent several million dollars on this campaign and earned over one percent of the popular vote, the most successful Libertarian presidential campaign to date.
In 1983, the party was divided by internal disputes; former party leaders Edward Crane and David Koch left the party, taking a great deal of support with them. In 1984, the party's presidential nominee, David Bergland, only obtained ballot access in 40 states and earned only one-quarter of one percent of the popular vote.
A new strategy brought former Republican Congressman Ron Paul to the LP's presidential ticket in 1988; that year, the party regained ballot access in all 50 states. Andre Marrou, a Libertarian elected to the Alaska state legislature and Ron Paul's running mate in 1988, led the 1992 ticket. Investment adviser Harry Browne headed the 1996 and 2000 tickets; in all of these cases, the party's presidential nominee drew in between one third and one half of one percent of the popular vote.
The 2004 election cycle saw the Libertarian Party's closest presidential nomination race to date. Three candidates -- gun-rights activist and software engineer Michael Badnarik, talk radio host Gary Nolan, and Hollywood producer Aaron Russo -- all came within two percent of each other on the first two ballots at the 2004 national convention in Atlanta. Badnarik was chosen as the party's presidential nominee on the third ballot after Nolan was eliminated, a comeback many saw as surprising, as Badnarik had not been viewed as a frontrunner for the nomination — the majority of delegates were won over during the convention itself, due to Badnarik's perceived strength in the debates compared to Russo and Nolan. Badnarik's results were similar to the 2000 results of Harry Browne. He received very nearly as many votes as independent candidate Ralph Nader.
As of 2004, the Libertarian Party's national chair is Michael Dixon and its national director is Joe Seehusen.
Relationship to Major Parties The Libertarian Party has substantial points of disagreement with both the Democratic and the Republican parties. However, the party has historically had more influence on and closer ties with the Republican Party. For example, former Republican Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich claimed to be influenced by Libertarian principles, and was praised by many Libertarians for attempting to shrink government. Analysts within the American right have used the language and social critiques of Libertarians with regard to market deregulation (for example, the frequent citing of studies by the Cato Institute). The 1988 Libertarian Party Presidential Candidate Ron Paul serves as a Republican Congressman from Texas, and is also a member of the Republican Liberty Caucus, a group of libertarian-minded members of that party.
Libertarian candidates have even occasionally thrown their support behind Republican contenders. In a 2002 South Dakota election for Senate, for example, Libertarian candidate Kurt Evans suspended his campaign a week before Election Day and urged voters to support Republican candidate John R. Thune. The Libertarian Party supported Republican efforts to impeach Bill Clinton, although for different reasons (citing several actions they deemed to be unconstitutional). In 1992, after incumbent Georgia Senator Wyche Fowler won a plurality but failed to achieve 50% and was forced into a runoff, the Libertarian candidate publicly threw his support to Paul D. Coverdale, who then won the election.
On the other hand, the Libertarian Party has also worked towards defeating some prominent Republicans, such as Bob Barr and George W. Bush. It opposes the Republican Party on some issues of civil liberties: for example, the Libertarian Party has sharply attacked the USA PATRIOT Act for its perceived infringements of civil rights. The party has also made the repeal of drug prohibition laws one of its priorities, a position that puts them at odds with the Republican Party.
The Libertarian Party claims to currently be the largest third party in the United States, a nation which is overwhelmingly dominated by two major parties who typically capture more than 95% of the vote in partisan elections. Their claim is disputed by some, especially other third parties such as the Greens. There is no single objective, agreed-upon standard to compare the size of third parties, so what is presented here is a collection of various measures sometimes cited.
Libertarians point to the performance of their presidential candidates, who have often finished above most permanently-organized third parties. In the 2004 election, Libertarian Michael Badnarik received more votes than all non-major party candidates except for Ralph Nader, who ran as an independent but accepted the endorsement and ballot lines of the mostly-defunct Reform Party; received more votes than all the other third party candidates combined, and three times as many as the next placed third party candidate (David Cobb). In 2000 and 1996, Libertarian Harry Browne was bested by both the Green Party and Reform Party nominees. The Libertarian candidate finished ahead of all other third party candidates in 1992, 1988, 1984, and 1980 (though it finished well behind independent candidates Ross Perot in 1992 and John Bayard Anderson in 1980). No other current third party has finished third in a presidential election more than once, nor have they received an electoral college vote, as the Libertarian candidate did in 1972 (from a renegade Nixon elector). Libertarians have also achieved 50-state ballot access for their candidate four times (in 1980, 1992, 1996, and 2000), a feat no other third party has achieved more than once.
In recent elections, Libertarians have run far more candidates for office, at all levels, than all other third parties combined. In the 2004 elections, there were 377 Libertarian candidates for state legislative seats, compared with 108 Constitution Party candidates, 94 Green Party candidates, and 11 Reform Party candidates. In the 2000 elections, the party ran about 1,430 candidates at the local, state, and federal level. More than 1,600 Libertarians ran for office in the 2002 mid-term election. Accordingly, their combined vote totals have far exceeded those of other parties: in the 2000, 2002, and 2004 elections, Libertarian candidates for state House of Representatives received more than a million votes -- more than twice the votes received by all other minor parties combined.
Libertarians have had mixed success in electing candidates at the state and local level (no third party is currently represented in the U.S. Congress, although Republican Ron Paul is a former Libertarian presidential candidate). 581 Libertarians current hold some form of public office, although many of these are appointed positions [2] (http://www.lp.org/organization/officials.php). Following the 2002 elections, more than 300 Libertarians held elected state and local offices; following the 2004 elections, at least 221 Greens hold elected office [3] (http://www.feinstein.org/greenparty/electeds.html). Though twelve Libertarians have previously been elected to state legislatures, none hold that office currently, unlike the Greens (one in Maine), the Independence Party (one in Minnesota), the Progressive Party (six in Vermont), the Republican Moderate Party (one in Alaska), and the Working Families Party (one in New York). 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), won a record-setting 11.9% and 19%, respectively. In 2002, Ed Thompson, well-known as the brother of former Wisconsin Governor Tommy Thompson, won 11% running for the same office, resulting in a seat on the state elections board for the Libertarian Party, the only one for a third party in the U.S.
As of October 2004, the Libertarians ranked fifth in voter registration nationally. The Constitution Party ranked third with 367,521 registrants, next to the Greens' 312,963 and the Libertarians' 258,408. However, according to Richard Winger, the editor of Ballot Access News, of the 326,763 California voters affiliated with the Constitution Party, who are actually registrants of California's American Independent Party, nearly all registered in the belief that they were registering as independents i.e. not associating with any political party. Also, excluding New York (where Libertarians just recently won the right to register) and California (where the American Independent Party skews the results), Libertarians rank third in voter registration. The Libertarians ranked third in fifteen states, the Greens ranked third in eight states, the Constitution Party ranked third in two states, and the Reform Party ranked third in one state. (Only 27 states require voters to affiliate with a party. Some states don't allow voters to register with third parties.)
Libertarianism and Objectivism Many libertarians are familiar with the writings of Ayn Rand and her philosophy Objectivism. This may have influenced some positions of the party. Ayn Rand has said that she does not support the Libertarian Party or the libertarian movement. [4] (http://www.aynrand.org/site/PageServer?pagename=education_campus_libertarians)
Prominent party members the prefix C denotes a political candidate; list is presented in alphabetical order by surname - C Michael Badnarik, 2004 Presidential nominee; software engineer
- Art Bell, founder and host of a US radio show; radio station owner
- Neal Boortz, US talk radio host
- C Harry Browne, 1996 and 2000 Presidential nominee
- Dean Cameron, television and motion picture actor; originator of the "Security Edition" of the Bill of Rights (http://www.securityedition.com/)
- Karl Hess (1923-1994), WWII veteran; author
- Karen Kwiatkowski, retired U.S. Air Force Officer; author; political commentator
- John Larroquette, television and motion picture actor
- C Theodora Nathan, 1972 Vice Presidential nominee (first woman to receive an electoral college vote); journalist
- David Nolan, Party founder; originator of the Nolan Chart
- C Gary Nolan, 2004 candidate for Presidential nomination; US talk radio host
- C Art Olivier, 2000 Vice Presidential nominee; former mayor of Bellflower, California; realtor
- Trey Parker, film and television series maker
- C Ron Paul, M.D., 1988 Presidential nominee; Republican member of the US House of Representatives (1976-1984, 1996-present); doctor of obstetrics and gynecology and former US Air Force flight surgeon
- Kurt Russell, film actor; former minor league baseball player
- C Aaron Russo, 2004 candidate for Presidential nomination; talent manager in the entertainment industry
- J. Neil Schulman, author; publisher
- C L. Neil Smith, 2000 Presidential nominee (in Arizona only); author
- C Ed Thompson, 2002 gubernatorial candidate in Wisconsin; former mayor of Tomah, Wisconsin
See also
External links
General - US Libertarian Party web site (http://www.lp.org/)
- LP candidate for U.S. president in 2004 (http://www.badnarik.org/index.php)
- Criticisms of the Libertarian Party (http://world.std.com/~mhuben/party.html)
- A list of Libertarian Party members in public office (http://www.lp.org/organization/officials.php). (Approximately 60% were elected and 40% were appointed to office.)
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