The

Libertarian Party Active parties by country Defunct parties by country Organizations associated with Libertarian parties See also * Liberal parties by country * List of libertarian organizations * Lists of political parties Lists of political part ...

in the United States is composed of various factions, sometimes described as left and right, although many libertarians reject use of these terms to describe the political philosophy.

History

A broad coalition of

classical liberals Classical liberalism is a political tradition and a branch of liberalism that advocates free market and laissez-faire economics; civil liberties under the rule of law with especial emphasis on individual autonomy, limited government, econo ...

, minarchists, and

anarcho-capitalists Anarcho-capitalism (or, colloquially, ancap) is an anti-statist, libertarian, and anti-political philosophy and economic theory that seeks to abolish centralized states in favor of stateless societies with systems of private property enfor ...

founded the Libertarian Party, and though many other smaller factions have existed, they did not have any major impact in the party. In 1974, the larger minarchist and smaller anarcho-capitalist factions held the

Libertarian National Convention The Libertarian National Convention is held every two years by the Libertarian Party (United States) to choose members of the Libertarian National Committee (LNC), and to conduct other party business. In presidential election years, the conventi ...

in Dallas and made the "

Dallas Accord 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 m ...

". It is an implicit agreement to compromise between factions by adopting a platform that explicitly did not say whether it was desirable for the

state State may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Literature * ''State Magazine'', a monthly magazine published by the U.S. Department of State * ''The State'' (newspaper), a daily newspaper in Columbia, South Carolina, United States * ''Our S ...

to exist.Less Antman
The Dallas Accord is Dead
Lew Rockwell.com, May 12, 2008. Over the years, anarcho-capitalists continued to debate and clash with minarchists in the party. The former faction has seen an upswing with the re-formalization of the

LPRadicals Libertarian Party Radical Caucus (sometimes abbreviated as "LPRadicals") is a caucus formed in 2006 within the United States Libertarian Party by Susan Hogarth and other party members who opposed removal of much of the material in the party platf ...

. When Ron Paul sought the 1988 Libertarian Party nomination for president, many saw him as too conservative and supported Native American activist

Russell Means Russell Charles Means (November 10, 1939 – October 22, 2012) was an Oglala Lakota activist for the rights of Native Americans, libertarian political activist, actor, musician, and writer. He became a prominent member of the American In ...

to run against him. Nevertheless, Paul won the nomination and ran a Libertarian presidential campaign. After the

Ron Paul 1988 presidential campaign The Ron Paul presidential campaign of 1988 began in early 1987 when former Congressman Ron Paul of Texas announced his candidacy for the 1988 presidential nomination of the Libertarian Party. He joined the third party after leaving the Republica ...

, Paul supporters like

Murray Rothbard Murray Newton Rothbard (; March 2, 1926 – January 7, 1995) was an American economist of the Austrian School, economic historian, political theorist, and activist. Rothbard was a central figure in the 20th-century American libertarian ...

and Lew Rockwell labeled themselves paleolibertarians because of their culturally conservative views. They soon left the party and later abandoned the term. Many American conservatives have left the Republican Party to join the Libertarian party. After the

September 11th attacks The September 11 attacks, commonly known as 9/11, were four coordinated suicide terrorist attacks carried out by al-Qaeda against the United States on Tuesday, September 11, 2001. That morning, nineteen terrorists hijacked four commer ...

, some such conservatives initially supported the

war in Afghanistan War in Afghanistan, Afghan war, or Afghan civil war may refer to: *Conquest of Afghanistan by Alexander the Great (330 BC – 327 BC) * Muslim conquests of Afghanistan (637–709) *Conquest of Afghanistan by the Mongol Empire (13th century), see al ...

and the

Iraq War {{Infobox military conflict , conflict = Iraq War {{Nobold, {{lang, ar, حرب العراق (Arabic) {{Nobold, {{lang, ku, شەڕی عێراق ( Kurdish) , partof = the Iraq conflict and the War on terror , image ...

. Over the years, the number of anarcho-capitalists in the party dropped by about half. During the 2006 Libertarian National Convention, delegates deleted a large portion of the very detailed platform. They added the phrase: "Government exists to protect the rights of every individual including life, liberty and property."Libertarian Party platform
Some took this as meaning the Dallas Accord was dead. Many anarcho-capitalists in the party left and started the

Boston Tea Party The Boston Tea Party was an American political and mercantile protest by the Sons of Liberty in Boston, Massachusetts, on December 16, 1773. The target was the Tea Act of May 10, 1773, which allowed the British East India Company to sell t ...

, which was disbanded six years later. In 2020, the Libertarian Party nominated Jeremy "Spike" Cohen for vice president, the first anarcho-capitalist to be featured on the party's presidential ticket.

Current factions

Anarcho-capitalists Anarcho-capitalism (or, colloquially, ancap) is an anti-statist, libertarian, and anti-political philosophy and economic theory that seeks to abolish centralized states in favor of stateless societies with systems of private property enfor ...

* Minarchists *

Libertarian socialists Libertarian socialism, also known by various other names, is a left-wing,Diemer, Ulli (1997)"What Is Libertarian Socialism?" The Anarchist Library. Retrieved 4 August 2019. anti-authoritarian, anti-statist and libertarianLong, Roderick T. (20 ...

* Paleolibertarians

Old factions

Objectivists Objectivism is a philosophical system developed by Russian-American writer and philosopher Ayn Rand. She described it as "the concept of man as a heroic being, with his own happiness as the moral purpose of his life, with productive achievement ...

* Green libertarians

References

{{Reflist, 30em Libertarian Party (United States)

Libertarian Party (United States) 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 m ...

Political party factions in the United States