Minarchism / right-libertarianism
Peak influence 1971–
Core claim
The state is justified only for the functions that cannot be provided without coercion — courts, police, defence — and every function beyond those is an unjustified transfer.
What it wants the state to do
Wants constitutional limits with teeth, a flat or consumption tax base, drug and vice laws repealed, occupational licensing abolished, and no industrial policy. Wants defence, but sized for defence.
Historical success case
Deregulation of US airlines and freight from 1978 onward, which is broadly credited across the political spectrum with large durable falls in real transport prices.
Historical failure mode
Financial deregulation through the 1990s and 2000s, where the removal of prudential constraint preceded the 2008 crisis — the standard evidence that some markets have failure modes that liability rules do not price.
Nearby traditions
Classical liberalism, its direct ancestor; anarcho-capitalism, which regards the retained night-watchman state as an unprincipled exception.
Common mix-up
Consistent libertarianism is not a reliable ally of social conservatism. The same premise that voids business regulation voids drug prohibition, immigration restriction and censorship — which is why the coalition it sits in fractures regularly.
Coordinates
| Axis | Value | Reads as |
|---|---|---|
| Identity | +0.00 | balanced |
| Pace | +0.35 | 0.35 toward Radical |
| Economic | +0.88 | 0.88 toward Individual / market |
| Authority | -0.85 | 0.85 toward Liberty |
| Nation | -0.30 | 0.30 toward Cosmopolitan |
| Democracy | -0.50 | 0.50 toward Democratic |
| Religion | -0.40 | 0.40 toward Secular |
| Technology | +0.50 | 0.50 toward Transhumanist |
| Ecology | -0.55 | 0.55 toward Growth |
| Military | -0.55 | 0.55 toward Non-intervention |
| Class | -0.55 | 0.55 toward Harmony |
| Rationalism | -0.45 | 0.45 toward Sceptical |