Overview
Libertarianism, in the sense most common in English today, is the political philosophy that individual liberty is the highest political value and that the state should be limited to protecting people from force, theft and fraud. Minarchism is the specific view that a minimal "night-watchman" state, consisting of police, courts and national defence, is justified, but little more. Libertarians favour free markets, low taxes, strong property rights, voluntary exchange and personal freedom in areas such as speech, drug use, sexuality and lifestyle.
Because libertarians oppose government interference in both economic and personal life, they don't fit neatly onto a single left–right line. They tend to agree with conservatives about markets and taxes and with progressives about civil liberties and personal choice. That is one reason two-axis charts became popular: libertarians wanted a way to show that they were neither left nor right in the usual sense.
On our test, libertarianism shows strong Markets and strong Liberty scores, a mild Local lean, and modest Secular and Progress scores. It is close to anarcho-capitalism but accepts a minimal state.
Core beliefs
- Self-ownership. Each person owns their own body and labour and has the right to decide how to live, as long as they don't violate others' equal rights.
- Non-aggression. It is wrong to initiate force or fraud against others. Force is legitimate only in defence.
- Minimal state. Government's legitimate role is limited to protecting rights: police, courts and defence. Most libertarians accept these functions; anarcho-capitalists reject even them.
- Free markets. Voluntary exchange benefits both parties, and markets coordinate dispersed knowledge better than central planning.
- Personal freedom. Adults should be free to make choices about their own lives, including risky ones, such as what substances they consume or what relationships they form.
- Skepticism of power. Concentrated government power is prone to abuse, so it should be minimised.
History
Libertarianism draws on classical liberalism, especially Locke's natural rights and Smith's economics. In the nineteenth century, writers such as Herbert Spencer in Britain and Lysander Spooner and Benjamin Tucker in the United States pushed liberal ideas towards an extremely limited or no state. The word "libertarian" was earlier used mostly by anarchists and socialists (see libertarian socialism); its modern free-market meaning became common in the United States from the 1950s, as classical liberals looked for a new name after "liberal" had come to mean support for the New Deal.
Key figures of the mid-twentieth century include the novelist Ayn Rand, whose books The Fountainhead and Atlas Shrugged popularised a philosophy of rational self-interest (Rand herself rejected the libertarian label), the economist Murray Rothbard, who developed a radical anti-state position, and Milton Friedman, who made the case for markets to a broad audience. Robert Nozick's Anarchy, State, and Utopia (1974) gave academic philosophy its most influential defence of the minimal state, arguing against Rawls that redistributive taxation violates rights.
The US Libertarian Party was founded in 1971 and the Cato Institute in 1977. Libertarian ideas have influenced policy debates on deregulation, school choice, drug policy reform and the decriminalisation of cannabis, as well as the development of cryptocurrencies, which some early proponents framed in libertarian terms. Libertarian-leaning movements and parties exist in other countries, and in some Latin American countries libertarian economists have recently entered national politics.
Key thinkers and texts
- Robert Nozick: Anarchy, State, and Utopia.
- Friedrich Hayek: The Constitution of Liberty (Hayek is often classed as a classical liberal).
- Milton Friedman: Capitalism and Freedom.
- Ayn Rand: Atlas Shrugged, The Virtue of Selfishness (Objectivism).
- Murray Rothbard: For a New Liberty (moving towards anarcho-capitalism).
- Frédéric Bastiat: The Law, a short nineteenth-century classic.
Variants and related ideologies
Minarchism accepts a night-watchman state. Anarcho-capitalism rejects the state entirely. Objectivism is Ayn Rand's philosophy, with its own ethics and epistemology. Left-libertarianism combines self-ownership with egalitarian views about natural resources, as in the work of Hillel Steiner and Peter Vallentyne. Bleeding-heart libertarianism stresses concern for the poor within a libertarian framework. Geolibertarianism combines libertarianism with Georgist land taxation. Libertarian conservatism (fusionism) combines libertarian economics with traditional social values.
Where it sits on our eight axes
The Liberty and Markets poles are the defining pair. On Progress vs Tradition, libertarians typically land slightly on the Progress side because of their support for personal freedom, drug decriminalisation and same-sex marriage, but many are personally traditional; they distinguish between what they would choose and what the state should enforce. On Local vs Central, they lean Local, supporting federalism and decentralisation as checks on power. On Global vs Nation, they usually support free trade and are divided on immigration; some favour open borders as a matter of free movement, others worry about the welfare state and culture. On Ecology vs Growth, they lean towards Growth and favour property-rights-based approaches to environmental protection. On Secular vs Religious, they support strict separation of church and state.
The trolley problems of libertarianism
Libertarianism faces several well-known hard cases that are useful for understanding where individual libertarians draw lines. Public goods: who pays for national defence or flood defences if taxation is minimal? Most minarchists accept limited taxation for these. Pollution: if a factory's smoke harms neighbours' property, that is a rights violation, but enforcing it through courts can be slow when harms are diffuse, as with climate change. Children: self-ownership is harder to apply to people who can't yet consent. Immigration: if people have a right to free movement and property owners a right to hire anyone, how can borders be justified? Different libertarian thinkers answer these differently, which is why libertarian results on our test can vary substantially on the secondary axes.
How it answers the big questions
- What should government do? Protect people from force and fraud, and almost nothing else.
- What about the poor? Through voluntary charity, mutual aid and economic growth; some libertarians accept a minimal safety net or a negative income tax.
- Drugs and personal choices? Legalise or decriminalise consensual adult activities.
- Military interventions? Many libertarians favour non-interventionist foreign policy.
In practice today
No country is run on strictly libertarian lines, but libertarian ideas influence policy debates in many places. Think tanks and student groups promote libertarian positions, and there are libertarian or libertarian-leaning factions within some conservative and liberal parties. Some recent national leaders, particularly in Latin America, describe themselves as libertarian or anarcho-capitalist in philosophy while governing within constitutional limits. Libertarian arguments are also prominent in debates about technology, encryption, cryptocurrency and online free speech.
Criticisms and debates
Social democrats and socialists argue that libertarianism ignores how unequal starting positions limit real freedom, that markets without regulation produce monopolies, pollution and exploitation, and that a minimal welfare state leaves vulnerable people without adequate protection. Communitarians and conservatives argue that libertarian individualism neglects the social bonds, families and institutions that make freedom possible. Some philosophers argue that self-ownership, taken strictly, can justify troubling outcomes, such as voluntary slavery contracts. Anarcho-capitalists argue from the other side that minarchism is inconsistent: if taxation is theft, even a minimal state funded by taxes is unjust. Libertarians reply that voluntary institutions, civil society and prosperity do more for the vulnerable than state programmes, and that state power has its own record of abuse.
Key dates
- 1850: Bastiat's The Law.
- 1957: Rand's Atlas Shrugged.
- 1962: Friedman's Capitalism and Freedom.
- 1971: The US Libertarian Party is founded.
- 1974: Nozick's Anarchy, State, and Utopia.
- 1977: The Cato Institute is founded.
Common misconceptions
- "Libertarians are just conservatives who like drugs." Libertarianism has a distinct philosophical basis and often disagrees with conservatives on immigration, foreign policy and civil liberties.
- "Libertarians want no rules." They want rules against force and fraud enforced strictly.
- "Libertarians are selfish." Many support extensive voluntary charity and community work; they object to coercion, not to helping others.
Does libertarianism fit you?
It may fit if you believe adults should be free to live as they choose as long as they don't harm others, distrust government power in both economic and personal life, and think markets and voluntary cooperation handle most problems better than the state. A strong combination of Markets and Liberty scores is the key signal.
A suggested reading path
Bastiat's The Law is a short, readable introduction. Nozick's Anarchy, State, and Utopia offers the academic defence. Jason Brennan's Libertarianism: What Everyone Needs to Know is a balanced primer by an advocate. For critiques, read Rawls's A Theory of Justice and Will Kymlicka's Contemporary Political Philosophy, chapter on libertarianism.
Frequently asked questions
What is the difference between libertarian and minarchist? Minarchism is the most common type of libertarianism; it accepts a minimal state.
Are libertarians left or right? Usually right on economics and left on personal freedom, which is why they tend to appear at the bottom-right of two-axis charts.
Do libertarians pay taxes? Libertarians generally obey the law while advocating lower taxes; a small minority practise tax resistance.