The largest third party in the United States today is the Libertarian Party.
How long has the Libertarian Party been in existence?
What are some of the Libertarian beliefs?
In June of 1972, the Libertarian Party held its first national convention.
Those in attendance chose the name “Libertarian Party” over the “New Liberty Party”
which was the second place choice.
At this convention, the new party also nominated John Hospers as its first presidential candidate.
Six years later, in 1978, Dick Randolph became the first Libertarian to win public office.
He was elected to the state legislature in Alaska.
By 1980, the party had grown enough to officially become the third largest party in the United
States.
In that same year, the party achieved ballot access in all fifty states.
This means that the Libertarian Party presidential candidate appeared on the ballot in all fifty
states, alongside the Republican and Democrat candidates.
The Libertarian presidential candidate also achieved ballot access in all fifty states
in 1992 and 1996.
This made them the only third party in history to achieve ballot access in all fifty states
in two consecutive elections.
Similar to the Democratic donkey and the Republican elephant, the Libertarian Party has chosen
an animal to serve as a mascot.
In the early 1990s, a penguin was chosen to represent the party, which became known as
the Liberty Penguin.
However, in 2006, the penguin was largely replaced by the Libertarian porcupine, which
is now used regularly by the Libertarian Party.
The Statue of Liberty is also a regularly used party symbol.
In 1972, the Libertarians adopted an official slogan to help promote their party.
This slogan, “There ain’t no such thing as a free lunch” was used by the party for
many years, including the slogan’s abbreviation “TANSTAAFL.”
Today, the party’s official slogan is “The Party of Principle.”
In terms of their political beliefs, Libertarians are often thought to be economically conservative
while being socially liberal.
This means that they support many Republican philosophies in terms of economic matters
and many Democratic philosophies in terms of cultural matters.
Ultimately, the guiding principle to Libertarian positions is that they believe the government
should have as little involvement with an individual’s day-to-day life as possible.
Economically, Libertarians believe that the government should have a “hands off” approach
to the economy.
This would mean the government should not attempt to regulate the economy, but instead
let the free market, and natural competition amongst businesses, dictate things like prices
and employee wages.
Libertarians also believe in free trade and free travel between nations.
They feel that governments place unnecessary restraints on the movement of people and products.
Many Libertarians also support the legalization of what they feel are “victimless crimes”.
This would include the legalization of most drugs, prostitution, gambling, and other similar
activities.
They hold this belief because they feel that the government should not restrict an individual’s
personal liberty.
The Libertarian stances on these issues are amongst the most controversial that the party
holds.
Libertarians also believe things such as public schools and public healthcare should not exist.
Instead, they feel that the private sector could do a better, and more efficient, job
in both of these areas.
Additionally, they argue that government regulation of the environment should not be necessary.
They feel that private landowners would have a much stronger interest in maintaining the
health and cleanliness of their own land.
Libertarians are also strong supporters of unrestricted free speech.
They oppose the government using its authority to censor someone who might be speaking out
against the government.
They defend the rights of all individuals to express dissent, whether it be through
free speech or free press.
This is not every belief promoted by the Libertarian Party as there are too many to be listed in
this lesson.
It should also be remembered that not every Libertarian shares each of these beliefs.
It is difficult to categorize an entire group of people in broad terms.
The party includes a wide variety of people who have their own opinions on many of these
topics.
The Libertarian Party has experienced varied success over the course of its existence.
In the 1990s, there were more than forty Libertarians holding elected office throughout the nation.
However, as recently as the 2012 presidential election, the Libertarian candidate could
only be found on the ballots of thirty states.
Today, the Libertarian Party is experiencing a surge once again.
The Libertarian candidate for president in both 2012 and 2016 was Gary Johnson (Johnson
received more than one million votes in the 2012 presidential election).
There are 145 Libertarians currently holding public offices throughout the United States
and more than 400,000 Americans who are registered Libertarians.
There are also numerous Independents, who claim to be Libertarians, living in states
where they cannot register with the party.