A Broad Definition for Libertarianism Bill Woolsey* The purpose of this posting is to propose a broad definition for libertarianism. _Libertarianism_: a direction for change away from the status quo of the late twentieth century; towards increases in _both_ economic and personal liberty. Libertarians, then, are those sympathetic towards the repeal of existing government programs, and skeptical of new government programs, _across the board_. Given that broad definition, libertarians are quite common in the U.S. In the early eighties, between fifteen and twenty percent of voters favored change in the libertarian direction (Maddox and Lilie 1984, pp. p. 16). The broad definition of libertarianism can be better understood by comparing and contrasting it with modern conservatism. There are some similarities. Conservatives share the libertarians' general skepticism about government. And like libertarians, they are sympathetic towards proposals for deregulation and privatization of the economy. Yet conservatives have several characteristics that libertarians do _not_ share. Conservatives are sympathetic to government efforts to promote traditional values in private life, especially through the criminal justice system. And conservatives are inadequately skeptical of government efforts to promote defense preparedness and excessively sympathetic to interventions to support foreign despots. Libertarianism also can be compared and contrasted with modern liberalism. There are some similarities. Liberals share the libertarians' sympathy towards proposals to expand individual privacy rights against government efforts to promote traditional moral values. They also share the libertarians' skepticism about the need for increased (or even existing) levels of defense expenditure and intervention in support of foreign despots. The primary difference between libertarians and liberals is that liberals are highly sympathetic towards government intervention to promote economic prosperity, especially programs aimed at fighting poverty. And liberals are not sufficiently skeptical of efforts by government to promote humanistic values in private life and intervention in favor of "progressive" foreign regimes. The broad definition of libertarianism refers to a large group of people whose views can be distinguished from the dominant political perspectives: conservatism and liberalism. Libertarians are sympathetic to proposals for deregulation and privatization of the economy as well as protection of individual privacy rights. They are skeptical of government in general, including its efforts to promote prosperity, fight poverty, spend money on defense programs, promote traditional or humanistic moral values, and help "progressive" or despotic foreign regimes. Libertarianism: Moderate, Mainstream, and Radical If libertarianism is broadly defined as a _direction for change_, libertarians can be distinguished by their moderation or extremism. Exactly how much change in the libertarian direction do various libertarians favor? Three broad groups can be distinguished. "Moderate libertarians" favor relatively little change from the status quo. Because they are skeptical of government, they favor few, if any, new government programs. They are, therefore, equally unhappy with the initiatives that conservative Republicans propose on social issues and those that liberal Democrats propose on economic issues. Further, because of their sympathy towards increased economic and personal liberty, they favor some proposals that involve modest reductions in the size and scope of government. They tend to approve of the economic proposals of conservative Republicans and favor the positions of liberal Democrats on social issues. Moderate libertarians are often described as liberal on the social issues and conservative on the economic issues. They favor modest net decreases in government _across the board_. While moderate libertarians are probably most common (making up most of the fifteen to twenty percent of voters who favor the libertarian direction), they lack coherent intellectual direction. There are few, if any, books or articles calling for moderate libertarian change. Further, moderate libertarians have little or no political leadership. Senator Tsongas' effort to capture the Democratic presidential nomination did involve some overtures to socially liberal and economically conservative voters, but his campaign was more moderately liberal than libertarian. Governor Weld of Massachusetts _may_ come to provide political leadership for moderate libertarians. (The Committee for a Libertarian Majority seems to advocate that the Libertarian Party provide both intellectual and political leadership to moderate libertarians.) "Mainstream libertarians" advocate more radical change from the status quo than do the moderates. They favor massive deregulation and privatization of the economy, leaving minimal government intervention. They favor very low tax rates, providing revenues sufficient to finance a few public goods and very limited aid to the poor. And they favor some government intervention to control serious "neighborhood effects" (like pollution). They also support personal liberties and oppose paternalistic legislation, including government prohibition of victimless crimes. These libertarians are best identified by their intellectual leadership. Leading mainstream libertarians include F.A. Hayek, Milton Friedman, and James Buchanan, all of whom have won the Nobel prize in economics. Hayek and Friedman have written popular books advocating their views. And the Cato Institute and Reason Foundation emphasize mainstream libertarian positions. There is, however, no political leadership for mainstream libertarians. (The Committee for a Libertarian Majority seems to advocate recruiting "mainstream" libertarians into the LP.) "Radical libertarians" favor the most change from the status quo. They take libertarian skepticism and sympathies to their logical conclusion and favor _complete_ economic and personal freedom. They usually insist on strict adherence to some fundamental principle like non-aggression, noninitiation of force, self-ownership, or individual rights. Radical libertarians, therefore, favor all of the deregulation and privatization favored by the mainstream libertarians and then go further. They demand the abolition of taxation. They insist that public goods be financed voluntarily and oppose all government aid to the poor. They reject government efforts to control neighborhood effects. Like the mainstream libertarians, they favor repealing government prohibition of drugs, prostitution, and gambling. Radical libertarians have both intellectual and political leadership. Numerous books and articles make the case for complete personal and economic freedom, including some scholarly treatises on philosophy and economics and many popular treatments. By far the best known presentations are in Ayn Rand's novels, though she calls her position "capitalism" rather than libertarianism. As for political leadership, the Libertarian Party has traditionally advocated radical libertarianism. Its membership pledge, statement of principles, and party platform all demand complete personal and economic freedom. (The Committee for a Libertarian Majority, however, proposes to drop the pledge and modify the platform, apparently so that the LP will be open to "mainstream" libertarians and appeal to "moderate" libertarian voters.) *Associate Professor of Economics, The Citadel, Charleston SC. 29409. (803) 953-5161. I want to thank those who commented on earlier drafts on libernet-d. I welcome further comments on libernet-d, mail, or personal E-mail.