Factions in the Libertarian Party (United States)

Ideological and political wings of the Libertarian Party

The Libertarian Party 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.[1]

As of 2025, notable caucuses within the party include the hardline and paleolibertarian Mises Caucus, the traditionalist and more left-leaning Classical Liberal Caucus, the mainly anarcho-capitalist Radical Caucus, and the left-wing Libertarian Socialist Caucus. There are also smaller groups such as the Pro Life Caucus and Bitcoin Caucus.[2]

## History

[edit]

A broad coalition of classical liberals, minarchists, and anarcho-capitalists founded the Libertarian Party in 1971. In 1974, the larger minarchist and smaller anarcho-capitalist factions held the Libertarian National Convention in Dallas and made the "Dallas Accord". 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 to exist.[3][4][5]

Over the years, anarcho-capitalists continued to debate and clash with minarchists in the party.[6] The former faction has seen an upswing with the re-formalization of the LPRadicals. When the anarchist-aligned[7] Ron Paul sought the 1988 Libertarian Party nomination for president, many saw him as too radical and supported Native American activist Russell Means to run against him.[8][9][10] Nevertheless, Paul won the nomination and ran a Libertarian presidential campaign.[11]

After the Ron Paul 1988 presidential campaign, Paul supporters like Murray Rothbard and Lew Rockwell labeled themselves "paleolibertarians" because of their culturally conservative views.[12] They soon left the party and later abandoned the term.[13] Following the formation of the paleolibertarian faction, some American conservatives left the Republican Party to join the Libertarian Party.[14] After the September 11th attacks, some conservative libertarians supported the war in Afghanistan and the Iraq War.[15]

Over the years, the number of anarcho-capitalists in the party dropped by about half.[5][16] During the 2006 Libertarian National Convention, delegates deleted a large portion of the party's detailed platform. They added the phrase: "Government exists to protect the rights of every individual including life, liberty and property."[17] Some took this as meaning the Dallas Accord was dead.[5] Many anarcho-capitalists in the party left and started the Boston Tea Party in 2006, 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.[18] In 2022, the paleolibertarian Mises Caucus swept control of all positions in the Libertarian National Committee.[19] In response to the paleolibertarians' control over the party, numerous state parties disaffiliated from the Libertarian Party and others suffered splits and separations.

## Current caucuses

[edit]

### Classical Liberal Caucus

[edit]

The Classical Liberal Caucus promotes classical liberalism and has been described as traditionalist and more left-leaning.[20][21][2] It was founded in 2022 by Jonathan Casey, with the stated goal of promoting a professional and policy-based message within the Libertarian Party.[22][23] The Caucus argues that the Libertarian Party should adopt a classical liberal message of individualism to appeal to Americans in the political center disillusioned with the Democratic and Republican parties.[23][non-primary source needed] It was associated with the Chase Oliver 2024 presidential campaign.[20]

### Mises Caucus

[edit]

Main article: Mises Caucus

The Mises Caucus promotes paleolibertarianism,[24] Fusionism,[25][26] as well as a more conservative version of American libertarianism associated with the presidential campaigns of former U.S. congressman Ron Paul.[26][25] It was founded in 2017 by Michael Heise, mainly in opposition to Nicholas Sarwark's position as party chairman and the influence of the Pragmatist Caucus. It is named after economist Ludwig von Mises.

The caucus has the support of some prominent libertarians, such as comedian Dave Smith, political commentator Tom Woods, and radio host Scott Horton.[27][28] The caucus has also been highly controversial, and has been accused by their critics of harboring bigotry or being plants of the Republican Party, which the Mises Caucus denies.[29]

The Mises Caucus has shifted the Libertarian Party further toward the right ever since their party’s national convention in May 2022.[29] After the 2024 Libertarian National Convention, the Mises Caucus controlled the positions of Secretary and Chair on the Libertarian National Committee, as well as a majority of state affiliates.[25] However, the Secretary's affiliation with the Mises Caucus ended shortly thereafter because of the Mises-controlled Libertarian Party of Colorado's attempt to replace the properly selected Libertarian Presidential nominee, Chase Oliver, on the Colorado ballot. [30]

### Radical Caucus

[edit]

Main article: LPRadicals

The Radical Caucus (also known as LPRadicals) promotes more radical libertarian thought. It supports abolitionism of government functions and agencies instead of incremental changes to the status quo.[2][31][32] The caucus was created in 2006 by members of the party unhappy with that year's party platform.[31] It opposed Gary Johnson in the 2016 Libertarian Party presidential primaries.[33]

### Libertarian Socialist Caucus

[edit]

The Libertarian Socialist Caucus (also known as the LSC) is a small, left-wing faction within the Libertarian Party. They seek to honor the NAP by getting the Libertarian Party to recognize economic exploitation as aggression that should be opposed by the Libertarian Party.

## Former caucuses

[edit]

### Pragmatist Caucus

[edit]

The Pragmatist Caucus was a moderate faction long influential within the Libertarian Party. It was associated with the 2012 and 2016 presidential campaigns of Gary Johnson. It dissolved in 2022 due to a controversy caused by the Mises Caucus–controlled Libertarian Party of New Hampshire, which posted offensive messages on social media.[34][35][36]

## Ideological factions

[edit]

* Anarcho-capitalists
* Green libertarians
* Libertarian socialists
* Market anarchists
* Minarchists
* Objectivists
* Paleolibertarians

## See also

[edit]

* Outline of libertarianism
* Consequentialist libertarianism
* Deontological libertarianism
* Right-libertarianism
* Left-libertarianism
* Geolibertarianism
* Neo-libertarianism
* Neoclassical liberalism
* Agorism

* Debates within libertarianism
* Limited government
* Optimal tax
* Libertarian perspectives on political alliances
* Objectivism and libertarianism
* Schools of economic thought

Democratic Party

* Factions in the Democratic Party

Republican Party

* Factions in the Republican Party

## References

[edit]

1. ^ Duncan Watts, Understanding American government and politics: a guide for A2 politics students, 2nd Revised edition, Manchester University Press, 16 March 2006, p 246 IBN 978-0719073274: "Libertarians feel that neither left nor right can be trusted to defend the rights of individuals." See also:
* Leonard Read rejected these terms as "authoritarian". Neither Left Nor Right Archived 2008-06-21 at the Wayback Machine, The Freeman, February 1998, Vol. 48 No. 2.
* Walter Block rejected the labels being even in making differentiations between libertarians who were largely pro-property. Author "Libertarianism is unique; it belongs neither to the right nor the left," Journal of Libertarian Studies, Volume 22 (2010): 127–70.
* Sheldon Richman writes about this in Libertarianism: Left or Right? Archived 2012-03-31 at the Wayback Machine, Future of Freedom Foundation's "Freedom Daily," June 2007. "Is libertarianism of the Left or of the Right? We often avoid this question with a resounding 'Neither!'" He also points out that left and right were "first used in the French Legislative Assembly after the revolution of 1789. In that context those who sat on the right side of the assembly were steadfast supporters of the dethroned monarchy and aristocracy – the ancien régime – (and hence were conservatives) while those who sat on the left opposed its reinstatement (and hence were radicals). It should follow from this that libertarians, or classical liberals, would sit on the left."
2. ^ a b c "What are America's Libertarians for?". The Economist. 2024-05-28. Archived from the original on 2024-07-17. Retrieved 2024-09-27.
3. ^ Mike Hihn, "The Dallas Accord, Minarchists, and why our members sign a pledge", Washington State Libertarian Party, August 2009.
4. ^ Paul Gottfried, The conservative movement: Social movements past and present , Twayne Publishers, 1993, p. 46.
5. ^ a b c Less Antman, The Dallas Accord is Dead, Lew Rockwell.com, May 12, 2008.
6. ^ Walter Block, "Anarchism and Minarchism: No Rapprochement Possible", Journal of Libertarian Studies, at Ludwig Von Mises Institute website.
7. ^ "Ron Paul on Anarchism". Mises Institute. August 13, 2014. Retrieved May 22, 2023.
8. ^ Gibson, Brad (April 2, 1987), "Libertarian hopefuls visit Penn State", The Daily Collegian, University Park, Pennsylvania, p. 20, archived from the original on October 23, 2017, retrieved December 13, 2019
9. ^ "Also running". The Ledger. Lakeland, Florida. May 10, 1987. p. 10.[permanent dead link]
10. ^ "Texan sees a Libertarian president in political stars", The Spokesman-Review, Spokane, Washington, p. 8, June 29, 1987[permanent dead link]
11. ^ Davidson, Lee (August 25, 1988), "Libertarians say Americans want voting alternative", The Deseret News, Salt Lake City, Utah, p. B5[permanent dead link]
12. ^ Llewellyn H. Rockwell, Jr. "The Case for Paleo-libertarianism Archived 2013-04-01 at the Wayback Machine" in Liberty, January, 1990, 34-38.
13. ^ Do You Consider Yourself a Libertarian?, Kenny Johnsson interviews Lew Rockwell for The Liberal Post Archived 2007-05-27 at the Wayback Machine, as posted on LewRockwell.Com, May 25, 2007.
14. ^ "Conservative-Libertarian Split: Liberals Get It, Conservatives Don't" Archived 2011-09-27 at the Wayback Machine. IntellectualConservative.com. Retrieved June 2, 2011.
15. ^ Justin Raimondo, Booting Boort: Antiwar Backlash Against Libertarian Convention Speaker Picks Up Steam, Antiwar.com, December 9, 2003.
16. ^ Knapp, Thomas, "Time for a new Dallas Accord? Archived 2008-09-20 at the Wayback Machine", Rational Review.
17. ^ Libertarian Party platform.
18. ^ Doherty, Brian (May 24, 2020). "Libertarian Party Picks Spike Cohen as Its Vice-Presidential Candidate". Reason. Retrieved September 23, 2020.
19. ^ "Mises Caucus Takes Control of Libertarian Party". Reason.com. 2022-05-29. Retrieved 2022-05-29.
20. ^ a b Gibson, Brittany (May 26, 2024). "Libertarians pick Chase Oliver as presidential nominee". Politico. Retrieved May 27, 2024.
21. ^ Fowler, Stephen (2024-06-21). "As voters suffer presidential election deja vu, Chase Oliver wants to be another option". NPR. Retrieved 2024-08-22.
22. ^ Epstein, Gene (24 February 2023). "National Divorce?". Reason. Retrieved 9 August 2024.
23. ^ a b "Our Mission". lpclc.org. 18 June 2022. Retrieved 1 August 2024.
24. ^ Mas, Frederic (2022-06-01). "United States: the libertarian party veers to the right". Contrepoints (in French). Retrieved 2022-06-07.
25. ^ a b c "'By Our Fruits, You'll Know Us': The Mises Caucus Mastermind". Reason.com. 2022-06-16. Retrieved 2022-09-12.
26. ^ a b "Libertarians Tell White Nationalists, Racists to Leave Party". IVN.us. 2017-08-18. Retrieved 2021-10-02.
27. ^ Molinari (2018-07-13). "Tom Woods, Dave Smith, and Jason Stapleton Join the Libertarian Party". The Libertarian Republic. Retrieved 2021-10-02.
28. ^ Aaron (2018-09-09). "Rejoining the Libertarian Party with the Mises Caucus". Things Not Seen. Archived from the original on 2020-02-16. Retrieved 2022-05-23.
29. ^ a b "Libertarian Party Is Fighting a Civil War Over Its Right-Wing Mises Caucus". The Daily Beast. 2023-02-22. Archived from the original on 2023-02-22. Retrieved 2023-09-20.
30. ^ Doherty, Brian (October 10, 2024). "Libertarian Party Secretary Files Lawsuit To Remove Party Chair Angela McArdle". Reason. Retrieved January 21, 2025.
31. ^ a b Cannoli, Paulie (2024-09-28). "Update on the Libertarian Party Radical Caucus". Independent Political Report – Your Premier Source on Third Parties and Independent Candidates Since 2008. Retrieved 2024-09-28.
32. ^ Doherty, Brian; Welch, Matt (2017-01-07). "Did the Libertarian Party Blow It in 2016?". Reason.com. Retrieved 2024-09-27.
33. ^ Welch, Matt (2016-07-10). "Did the Libertarian Radicals Lose Their Inter-Party Fight? Not So Fast, Says One". Reason.com. Retrieved 2024-09-27.
34. ^ Welch, Matt (2018-07-04). "Libertarian Party Rebuffs Mises Uprising". Reason.com. Retrieved 2024-09-28.
35. ^ Doherty, Brian (2021-06-23). "Inside the Battle Over the Soul of the Libertarian Party". Reason.com. Retrieved 2024-09-28.
36. ^ Tomco, Brigham (2022-10-28). "Is the Libertarian Party on the verge of collapse or rebirth? Depends who you ask". Deseret News. Retrieved 2024-09-28.

## External links

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Caucus websites

* Classical Liberal Caucus
* Mises Caucus
* Radical Caucus

* v
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