Libertarian Party (United States)

Libertarian Party
ChairpersonAngela McArdle (TX)
Governing bodyLibertarian National Committee
FounderDavid Nolan
FoundedDecember 11, 1971 (1971-12-11)
Headquarters1444 Duke St.
Alexandria, Virginia 22314
Membership (2022)Increase 700,544[1]
Ideology
International affiliationInternational Alliance of Libertarian Parties
Colors  Gold-yellow
Slogan"The Party of Principle"
Seats in the Senate
0 / 100
Seats in the House of Representatives
0 / 435
State governorships
0 / 50
Seats in state upper chambers
0 / 1,972
Seats in state lower chambers
1 / 5,411[a]
Territorial governorships
0 / 5
Seats in territorial upper chambers
0 / 97
Seats in territorial lower chambers
0 / 91
Other elected officials322 (November 2022)[9]
Election symbol
Website
www.lp.org Edit this at Wikidata

The Libertarian Party (LP) is a political party in the United States that promotes civil liberties, non-interventionism, laissez-faire capitalism, and limiting the size and scope of government. The party was conceived in August 1971 at meetings in the home of David F. Nolan in Westminster, Colorado,[10][11] and was officially formed on December 11, 1971, in Colorado Springs.[11] The organizers of the party drew inspiration from the works and ideas of the prominent Austrian school economist, Murray Rothbard.[12] The founding of the party was prompted in part due to concerns about the Nixon administration, the Vietnam War, conscription, and the introduction of fiat money.[13]

The party generally promotes a classical liberal platform, in contrast to the Democratic Party's modern liberalism and progressivism and the Republican Party's conservatism.[14][non-primary source needed] Gary Johnson, the party's presidential nominee in 2012 and 2016, claims that the Libertarian Party is more culturally liberal than Democrats, and more fiscally conservative than Republicans.[15] Its fiscal policy positions include lowering taxes, abolishing the Internal Revenue Service (IRS), decreasing the national debt, allowing people to opt out of Social Security and eliminating the welfare state, in part by utilizing private charities. Its cultural policy positions include ending the prohibition of illegal drugs, advocating criminal justice reform,[16] supporting same-sex marriage, ending capital punishment, and supporting gun ownership rights.[14]

As of 2023, it is the third-largest political party in the United States by voter registration.[17] In the 2020 election, the Libertarians gained a seat in the Wyoming House of Representatives, giving them their first state legislative win since 2000.[18][19][20] As of August 2022, there are 310 Libertarians holding elected office: 193 of them partisan offices and 117 of them non-partisan offices.[9] There are 693,634 voters registered as Libertarian in the 31 states that report Libertarian registration statistics and Washington, D.C.[21] The first electoral vote for a woman was that for Tonie Nathan of the party for vice president in the 1972 United States presidential election due to a faithless elector supporter who eschewed his expected votes for President Richard Nixon and Vice President Spiro Agnew in favor of the Libertarian ticket. The first and only Libertarian in Congress was Justin Amash, who joined the Libertarian Party in 2020 and left the U.S. House of Representatives in 2021 after choosing not to seek re-election.

In 2022, the paleolibertarian Mises Caucus (LPMC) became the dominant faction on the Libertarian National Committee, leading to internal conflicts and significant policy changes, such as regarding immigration and abortion.[22][23]

  1. ^ Winger, Richard (December 27, 2022). "December 2022 Ballot Access News Print Edition". Ballot Access News. Retrieved March 19, 2023.
  2. ^ Rothbard, Murray Newton (1978). For a New Liberty: The Libertarian Manifesto. Collier Books. p. 153. ISBN 9780020746904. Even more extraordinary, the Libertarian party achieved this growth while consistently adhering to a new ideological creed—"libertarianism"—thus bringing to the American political scene for the first time in a century a party interested in principle rather than in merely gaining jobs and money at the public trough
  3. ^ Yeager, Leland B. (2001). Ethics As Social Science: The Moral Philosophy of Social Cooperation. Edward Elgar Publishing. p. 283.
  4. ^ a b c d "Ideological Third Parties and Splinter Parties". June 3, 2017. Archived from the original on January 16, 2015. Retrieved January 16, 2015.
  5. ^ Grigsby, Ellen (2011). "Neoclassical Liberals". In Ishiyama, John T.; Breuning, Marijke (eds.). 21st Century Political Science A Reference Handbook. SAGE Publications. p. 603. ISBN 978-1483305462.
  6. ^ "Libertarian Party opposes further intervention in Iraq". June 18, 2014.
  7. ^ Llewellyn H. Rockwell, Jr. "The Case for Paleo-libertarianism Archived April 1, 2013, at the Wayback Machine" in Liberty, January, 1990, 34–38.
  8. ^ a b Less Antman, The Dallas Accord is Dead, Lew Rockwell.com, May 12, 2008.
  9. ^ a b "Elected Officials". Retrieved November 12, 2022.
  10. ^ Martin, Douglas. David Nolan, 66, Is Dead; Started Libertarian Party, New York Times, November 22, 2010.
  11. ^ a b "David Nolan Reflects on the Libertarian Party on its 30th Anniversary". Colorado Freedom Report. Archived from the original on June 30, 2017. Retrieved December 13, 2013.
  12. ^ Judy (March 1, 2017). "The Political Importance of Murray Rothbard". Mises Institute. Retrieved March 23, 2022.
  13. ^ Murphy, Michael Patrick (2004). The Government. iUniverse. p. 555. ISBN 978-0-595-30863-7.
  14. ^ a b "Platform". July 11, 2018.
  15. ^ Julie Ershadi (April 30, 2013). "Gary Johnson: I'm More Conservative and More Liberal Than Both Parties". Roll Call. Archived from the original on May 6, 2013. Retrieved May 18, 2013.
  16. ^ "Crime and Justice". Libertarian Party. July 27, 2016. Retrieved September 9, 2018.
  17. ^ "March 2021 Ballot Access News Print Edition | Ballot Access News". March 28, 2021.
  18. ^ Aspegren, Elinor. "Not a Republican, not a Democrat: Wyoming's Marshall Burt wins Libertarian Party's first statehouse seat since 2002". USA Today. Retrieved November 5, 2020.
  19. ^ "Wyoming Newspaper Story About Marshall Burt, New Libertarian Legislator | Ballot Access News". November 6, 2020.
  20. ^ "State Representative – NHSOS". March 31, 2017. Archived from the original on March 31, 2017.
  21. ^ "Nationwide Voter Registration Data by Party | Ballot Access News". October 24, 2020. Retrieved March 18, 2021.
  22. ^ Heer, Jeet (June 6, 2022). "The Libertarian Party Goes Alt-Right". ISSN 0027-8378. Retrieved October 22, 2023.
  23. ^ Doherty, Brian (May 29, 2022). "Mises Caucus Takes Control of Libertarian Party". Reason.com. Retrieved October 22, 2023.


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