Ideology
Right-LibertarianismLibertarian
Defends individual liberty, private property, and voluntary exchange as the foundations of a just society, and holds that government should be small and limited to protecting people from force, fraud, and theft.
Core ideas
- Individual liberty has strict priority; government should be small and limited.
- Property rights rest on self-ownership and the labour that produces property.
- Markets distribute resources; interference in them is seen as counterproductive.
- The non-aggression principle and civil liberties are central.
- Supporters split between minarchists, who accept a minimal state, and anarcho-capitalists, who want none.
Where it sits on the 12 axes
The economy axis (Collectivize to Privatize) is 40, a little toward Privatize. The government axis (Security to Freedom) is 20, well toward Freedom. Diplomacy (Internationalism to Nationalism) is 60 and society (Progressive to Traditional) is 50, so it leans slightly Internationalist and is in the middle on society. Your match is whichever ideology has the nearest four values by straight distance on these axes only.
The bar shows the position on each of the four axes an ideology is matched on; the middle mark is the centre.
History
Right-libertarianism developed in the mid-20th century from the works of European liberal writers such as John Locke, Friedrich Hayek and Ludwig von Mises. In the 1930s an Old Right coalition opposed the New Deal and military interventionism, and Murray Rothbard later wrote about it. Rothbard combined the free-market approach of the Austrian School with natural rights to formulate anarcho-capitalism, while Robert Nozick's Anarchy, State, and Utopia (1974) defended a minimal state. Until the 1970s the word libertarian was mostly used by anarchists and socialists; since the late 20th century it has most commonly meant the right-libertarian kind.
Associated thinkers
- Murray Rothbard
- Robert Nozick
- Ludwig von Mises
Common misunderstandings
- Right-libertarian does not automatically mean anarchist. The tradition divides between minarchists, who want a limited state, and anarcho-capitalists, who want none.
- It is not opposed to socialism in principle: voluntary egalitarianism and socialism are acceptable to it, though supporters expect people to prefer markets.
Related ideologies
Is Right-Libertarianism your closest ideology?
Take the test and see which of the ideologies your answers sit closest to.
Questions
What is Right-Libertarianism?
A libertarian philosophy that supports capitalist property rights and market distribution of natural resources. It holds that government should be small and limited to protecting people from force, fraud and theft, and it backs civil liberties and the non-aggression principle.
Is Right-Libertarianism left or right?
It is filed as libertarian. Its 'right' refers to economics: capitalist property rights. On the four axes it sits far toward Freedom, a little toward Privatize and slightly Internationalist, so the single left-right line hides that it opposes state power in both economic and social life.
Right-Libertarianism vs left-libertarianism?
Both prize personal freedom. Right-libertarians treat natural resources as ownable by whoever appropriates them and support free-market capitalism. Left-libertarians hold that natural resources belong to everyone equally, or are owned collectively, and often back some redistribution. Here the left form is Social Libertarianism.
How does the 12 Axes test decide I am Right-Libertarianism?
It compares your economy, government, diplomacy and society scores with the four values stored for each of the 38 ideologies. The one at the smallest straight-line distance is your match. Other axes are not used.