Factions in the Libertarian Party (United States)

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. 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, 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?, 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."

History
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.

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. When the anarchist-aligned 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. Nevertheless, Paul won the nomination and ran a Libertarian presidential campaign.

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

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 party's detailed platform. They added the phrase: "Government exists to protect the rights of every individual including life, liberty and property." Some took this as meaning the Dallas Accord was dead. 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. In 2022, the paleolibertarian Mises Caucus swept control of all positions in the Libertarian National Committee. In response to the paleolibertarians' control over the party, numerous state parties disaffiliated from the Libertarian Party and others suffered splits and separations.

Current factions

 * Anarcho-capitalists
 * Libertarian socialists
 * Market anarchists
 * Minarchists
 * Paleolibertarians

Previous factions

 * Green libertarians
 * Objectivists