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:To discuss, go here:[[Wikipedia:Village_pump_(proposals)#Merger_proposal_:_Minarchism]]. --[[User:JokerXtreme|JokerXtreme]] ([[User talk:JokerXtreme|talk]]) 11:08, 7 March 2010 (UTC)
:To discuss, go here:[[Wikipedia:Village_pump_(proposals)#Merger_proposal_:_Minarchism]]. --[[User:JokerXtreme|JokerXtreme]] ([[User talk:JokerXtreme|talk]]) 11:08, 7 March 2010 (UTC)

== Libertarianism and Minarchism ==

[[File:Political Ideology Interconnectedness Venn Diagram.jpg|thumb]]
[[File:Scope of Government Diagram.jpg|thumb]]
[[File:Scope of Government-Liberal Spectrum.jpg|thumb]]

Here are some sources that I compiled for the [[libertarianism]] page. Most of them will work here as well. The diagrams are solely to facilitate discussion.

Interesting that libertarianism isn't mentioned in the lead of this article and the word minarchism isn't used even once in any of these quotes. Well...tenets trump labels.

The sources first establish a strong connection between classical liberalism and libertarianism. Next they identify who the most prominent libertarians are. Lastly they look at their viewpoints on the scope of government.

'''<big>Classical Liberalism and Libertarianism</big>'''

*The word liberal has an odd history. It comes from the same root as liberty, and originally it simply meant ""free."" In that broad sense, the United States as a whole is a liberal country, and all popular American ideologies are variants of liberalism. In a more restricted definition, a liberal was a person who believed in limited government and who opposed religion in politics. A hundred years ago, liberalism referred to a philosophy that in some ways resembeled modern-day libertarianism. For that reason, many libertarians today refer to themselves as classical liberals. - American Government and Politics Today 2008: The Essentials

*The classical liberal movements of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries are, of course, the forebears of contemporary libertarian thought. - Total freedom: toward a dialectical libertarianism

*Contemporary libertarians believe, with some legitimacy, that the greatest threat to liberty is an expanding government with a monopoly on state power. Their answer: limit government, protect a basic skein of fundamental rights, and the rest will work itself out. In this respect, libertarians are true heirs of the classical liberal tradition. - The Political Centrist

*Libertarianism has been more an intellectual than popular movement since its ancestor, classical liberalism, was first articulated by John Locke. William Maddox and Stuart Lillie identified six tenets of classical liberalism to which American libertarians subscribe in a modified form today: individualism, an instrumental view of the state, limited government, individual rights, legal equality, and representative government. These six tenets cluster around two domestic policy questions - the proper role of government and the prescriptions for apparent social inequalities. - Hostile takeover: the House Republican Party, 1980-1995

*Scalet and Schmidtz quite correctly identify the classical liberal contribution to political theory as its focus on limited government, rather than (as classical liberals are often accused of preferring) "weak" government. The size of government is not the primary concern of classical liberals; its limits are. Limited governments tend to be small relative to unlimited governments. They also note that "classical liberals have been champions of democracy." The two issues - limited government and democracy - have traditionally been linked together in classical liberal thought by the theory of constitutionalism, which limits the powers of majorities no less than of minorities. - Realizing freedom: libertarian theory, history, and practice

'''<big>Most Prominent/Influential Libertarians</big>'''

This source establishes the prominence of Jefferson, Tocqueville, Adam Smith, John Stuart Mill, Ludwig von Mises, Friedrich von Hayek and Ayn Rand...

:Libertarians cite as progenitors Jefferson, Tocqueville, Adam Smith, and John Stuart Mill as well as economists of the Austrian school Ludwig von Mises and Friedrich von Hayek, author of The Road to Serfdom (1944). But most Republican libertarians were first inspired not by these classical liberals but by the author of The Fountainhead and Atlas Shrugged. - New York Magazine Mar 4, 1996

This source establishes the prominence of John Stuart Mill and Herbert Spencer...

:John Stuart Mill, the great and generous theorist of liberalism, and Herbert Spencer, a major exponent of laissez-faire individualism, whose writings appealed immensely to the Spanish anarchists, can be - and have been - rightly designated as 'libertarians' - Anarchist seeds beneath the snow

This source establishes the prominence of John Stuart Mill...

:In contemporary times, libertarians have positioned themselves as the heirs to J. S. Mill and his defense of individual liberty. Their ideas have grown increasingly influential. Contemporary libertarians embrace Mill's On Liberty because it "sounds important libertarian themes: that individuals should be free to live as they choose so long as they don't harm others and that the power of government should be strictly limited." - Putting ideas to work: a practical introduction to political thought

This source establishes the prominence of Robert Nozick...

:With thirty years' distance on its publication, one can safely assert that Robert Nozick's Anarchy, State, and Utopia (1974) has achieved the status of a classic. It is not only the central text for all contemporary academic discussions of libertarianism; together with John Rawls's A Theory of Justice (1971), it arguably framed the landscape of academic political philosophy in the last decades of the twentieth century. - Natural rights liberalism from Locke to Nozick, Part 1

This source establishes the prominence of John Stuart Mill, Ludwig von Mises, Friedrich Hayek and Ayn Rand...

:This political philosophy has a long pedigree. It has roots in the classical liberalism of eighteenth- and nineteenth- century British thinkers such as John Stuart Mill, and, more recently, in the Austrian school of economics represented more powerfully in the United States by Ludwig von Mises and Friedrich Hayek. On a more popular level, the novelists Ayn Rand and Robert Heinlein proved effective propagators of a radical anti-statist, individualist ethos, and according to historian Brian Doherty, more than half of the earliest Libertarians cited one of those two authors as their primary ideological influence. - Encyclopedia of American political history

'''<big>Libertarians on the Scope of Government</big>'''

John Stuart Mill's viewpoint on the scope of government...

:That the only purpose for which power can be rightfully exercised over any member of a civilized community, against his will, is to prevent harm to others. - On Liberty

Ayn Rand's viewpoint on the scope of government...

:The proper functions of a government fall into three broad categories, all of them involving the issues of physical force and the protection of men’s rights: the police, to protect men from criminals—the armed services, to protect men from foreign invaders—the law courts, to settle disputes among men according to objective laws. - The Nature of Government

Herbert Spencer viewpoint on the scope of government (shorter)...

:The challenge facing Americans today in defending constitutionally limited government was succinctly stated by the English libertarian Herbert Spencer in 1884: "The function of Liberalism in the past was that of putting a limit to the powers of kings. The function of true Liberalism in the future will be that of putting a limit to the powers of Parliaments - Realizing freedom: libertarian theory, history, and practice

Herbert Spencer's viewpoint on the scope of government (longer)...

:And now mark that whether we consider government from this point of view, or from that previously occupied, our conclusions respecting it are in essence identical. For when government fulfils the function here assigned it, of retaining men in the circumstances to which they are to be adapted, it fulfils the function which we on other grounds assigned it — that of protector. To administer justice, — to mount guard over men's rights, — is simply to render society possible. And seeing that the two definitions are thus at root the same, we shall be prepared for the fact that, in whichever way we specify its duty, the State cannot exceed that duty without defeating itself. For, if regarded as a protector, we find that the moment it does anything more than protect, it becomes an aggressor instead of a protector; and, if regarded as a help to adaptation, we find that when it does anything more than sustain the social state, it retards adaptation instead of hastening it. - Social statics

Robert Nozick viewpoint on the scope of government...

:Our main conclusions about the state are that a minimal state, limited to the narrow functions of protection against force, theft, fraud, enforcement of contracts, and so on, is justified; that any more extensive state will violate persons' rights not to be forced to do certain things, and is unjustified; and that the minimal state is inspiring as well as right. Two noteworthy implications are that the state may not use its coercive apparatus for the purpose of getting some citizens to aid others, or in order to prohibit activities to people for their own good or protection. - The Political Theory of Robert Nozick

Adam Smith's viewpoint on the scope of government...

:Although Smith was against governmental interference with the market, he had a a theory of government sometimes known as the "duties of the sovereign". The system of natural liberty required the sovereign to perform three duties; defense, the exact administration of justice, and the erection and maintenance of public works. Even though he was a libertarian, Smith realized that the market could not provide certain public goods which were too expensive for provision by private individuals. - Public Sector Economics for Developing Countries

Ludwig von Mises's viewpoint on the scope of government...

:Liberalism differs radically from anarchism. It has nothing in common with the absurd illusions of the anarchists. We must emphasize this point because etatists sometimes try to discover a similarity. Liberalism is not so foolish as to aim at the abolition of the state. Liberals fully recognize that no social coöperation and no civilization could exist without some amount of compulsion and coercion. It is the task of government to protect the social system against the attacks of those who plan actions detrimental to its maintenance and operation. - Omnipotent Government

Friedrich Hayek's viewpoint on the scope of government...

:These words were even more significant because of the government services to which he applied them - "without exception to all those services of which government possesses a legal monopoly, with the only exception of maintaining and enforcing the law and maintaining for this purpose an armed force, i.e. all those from education to transport and communications, including post, telegraph, telephone and broadcasting services, all the so-called 'public utilities,' the various 'social' insurances and, above all, the issue of money." In the last pages of Law, Legislation and Liberty, published in 1979, Hayek the classical liberal became Hayek the libertarian. - Friedrich Hayek: a biography

Milton Friedman's viewpoint on the scope of government...

:First, the scope of government must be limited. Its major functions must be to protect our freedom both from the enemies outside our gates and from our fellow-citizens: to preserve law and order, to enforce private contracts, to foster competitive markets. Beyond this major function, government may enable us at times to accomplish jointly what we would find it more difficult or expensive to accomplish severally. However, any such use of government is fraught with danger. We should not and cannot avoid using government this way. But there should be a clear and large balance of advantages before we do. By relying primarily on voluntary co-operation and private enterprise, in both economic and other activities, we can insure that the private sector is a check on the powers of the governmental sector and an effective protection of freedom of speech, of religion, and of thought. - Capitalism and freedom

Dick Armey's viewpoint on the scope of government...

:While one can reject this notion of a stripped-down state, libertarianism is a principled and coherent worldview. It provides an answer to every question. Police departments and the army - yes. Just about everything else - no. Ask most politicians, from Gingrich to Clinton, what the role of the federal government is, and you'll get a stream of mush. Poke a libertarian and you'll get a response like the one Dick Armey gave shortly after becoming majority leader: "Defend our shores, build a system of justice, and construct some infrastructure. Gee, I'm running out of other suggestions." - New York Magazine Mar 4, 1996

David Boaz's viewpoint on the scope of government...

:Libertarians argue that we can and should move a long way toward minimal government; outside of the protection of our rights by police, courts, and national defense, it's hard to think of goods and services that could be produced more efficiently by a government bureaucracy than in the competitive marketplace. - Libertarianism: A Primer

James Walsh's viewpoint on the scope of government...

:Libertarians accept the need for a limited state - if only to provide basic levels of safety and security. Their focus is keeping the state limited to a disciplined - and small - number of activities. Anarchists still want to smash the mechanisms of state. As I've noted, anarchy is an emotional system. - Liberty in Troubled Times: A Libertarian Guide to Laws, Politics and Society in a Terrorized World

Richard A. Epstein's viewpoint on the scope of government...

:This basic insight - law must control the most lawless - lies behind the strong insistence on the basic rules of ordinary society. It also explains the libertarian's constant theoretical emphasis that the function of government is to control the use of force and fraud against the person and property of others. - Forbidden Grounds: The Case Against Employment Discrimination Laws

Here's a simple yet effective definition of libertarianism...

:A political ideology that is opposed to all government action except as necessary to protect life and property - The Challenge of Democracy: Government in America

My favorite definition...

:The right to swing my fist ends where the other man's nose begins. - Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr

--[[User:Xerographica|Xerographica]] ([[User talk:Xerographica|talk]]) 10:06, 28 September 2010 (UTC)

Revision as of 10:06, 28 September 2010

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"The Left" vs. "socialists"

There is currently a dispute regarding the proper name that should be given to those who oppose a minimal state on the grounds that a welfare state is necessary. The dispute is between calling them "the Left" or "socialism and other ideologies". I strongly believe they should be called the Left. First of all, not all supporters of a welfare state are socialists. Second, not all socialists support a welfare state (radical socialists support a planned economy). "The Left" is a much better term to use. -- Mihnea Tudoreanu 09:20, 29 July 2005 (UTC)[reply]

While "The left" is better than "socialism and other idealogies", but the left includes a variety of views, most (perhaps all) supporting a welfare state. Liberalism has similar problems. Socialism sounds pejorative when used in this way, and there are many people who do not consider themselves socialist who support some form of a socialist state. Nereocystis 16:17, 29 July 2005 (UTC)[reply]

The problem is that "the Left" (as well as "the Right") has been historically been used to mean different views, which is especially complicated as we are discussing an historical term. Originally, in the Ball Room, during the French Revolution, the liberals (and that means free market liberals, not American leftists) sat on the Left and conservatives, supporting the ancient regime, on the Right. Nowadays in Russia, Left means the free-market reformers, and Right the conservatives, who would like to return to Soviet era. This means, that the term is really vague. Maybe it would be better sepeak about "the defenders of social security", "the egalitarians" or something alike.--213.243.154.252 10:52, 30 July 2005 (UTC)[reply]
The terms Right and Left are indeed vague by themselves, but they have very precise meanings in specific contexts. For example, in the context of present-day Western democracies, Right and Left are very well defined. -- Mihnea Tudoreanu 14:45, 31 July 2005 (UTC)[reply]

I've taken the liberty of removing the "Disputed" tag from the article. It gave the misleading impression that there was a strictly factual dispute in progress, while really it's just a fairly tame semantic argument. (For what it's worth, anyone reading the article who's been following politics in any Western nation -- or clicks on "Left" -- will quickly figure out what is meant) --zenohockey 18:56, 18 August 2005 (UTC)[reply]

I think "the Left" is the preferred term here since the viewpoint is being contrasted with that of the "Right." Having said that, there is the possibility of referring to the aforementioned "Left" as "socially progressive" or "social liberals" in order to further the contrast with the "socially conservative" Right. Perhaps this would provide context for those (including myself) worried about the vague nature of "Left" and "Right." Parallel or Together? 13:16, 20 August 2005 (UTC)[reply]

is not erick mack a mini anarchist ?maybe jan narveson ? what abut exampels of gated comunitys and ferderation of that ? dont rodrick t loong have a bunch of links to mini anrchist ideas and thoeies on his website? will not minianrchist goverment just end up as a federation of gated coumnitys or a fedetartion of clans that have voted ther clan member in to ther goverment and fuled by mony and paperwork/organzation in ther clan dominted terretory (like ubzakistan lebanon somalia or laos )if you dont make a laws that say the mini anrchist can only earn mon as a tax heaven for other countrys or as a gated comuntiy place for ppl in culturers that dont have clans/nepotsim (that from my opion most of orintel/turckis/central asia cultures have ) ?just be a bussnis zone for extropayn stuff made ileagl in europe becuse of religon/tradtion and work like a admsintraon cuncil for that bussnis? xxxboy82.147.38.2 (talk) 15:50, 17 August 2010 (UTC)[reply]


The right to keep and bear arms

The right to keep and bear arms is not part of the basic definition of Night watchman state, so I've moved it to a separate paragraph. I did not add or delete anything. -- Writtenonsand 23:08, 25 September 2006 (UTC)[reply]

I disagree, a state that does not allow its citizens to bear arms is certainly not minimal. I do not know of any minimal statists that do not support that right. - WarHawk - ( 64.180.217.100 ) <- ISP info added by Writtenonsand 20:54, 1 October 2006 (UTC)[reply]
True, but a state that limits ANY right is not minimal. The right to bear arms doesn't hold any special place.(Dmjboose 16:15, 28 May 2007 (UTC))[reply]

The most widespread objection

Ok, who went out and counted noses so that some objections can be called more widespread than others? Goldfritha 01:21, 2 December 2006 (UTC)[reply]

Out it goes, then. Goldfritha 03:08, 11 December 2006 (UTC)[reply]

Social contract

As Social contract indicates, governments do not have social contracts; only societies do. And the nightwatch man state would have one: the agreement of the people living under it to live under it. (As the anarchist objection shows, this can not be taken for granted).

Anyone want to clarify that portion? Goldfritha 03:17, 11 December 2006 (UTC)[reply]

In fiction

I noticed that the article on kleptocracy had something about the discworld series, and from the books in it that I have read, that is correct. I think that it can also considered a night watchman state. —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 68.100.89.167 (talk) 22:52, 21 December 2006 (UTC).[reply]

eh... I'm really not sure why there's an aside about the right to bear arms in here...

arguments for the night watchman state

this section is either wrong or poorly written, mostly in regard to objectivism. Objectivists don't believe that the actions of a government beyond minarchism can lead to good consequences on the whole, but the article makes it sound like they fall in the same category as the natural law people. I've changed the article to clarify this. Also, the austrian school doesn't sound as though it's a minarchist school of thought, because it only deals with economics, rather than other rights.(Dmjboose 16:39, 28 May 2007 (UTC))[reply]

19th-century England

I was just reading an interview with Charles Stross (http://www.scifi.com/sfw/issue343/interview.html) in which he claimed that England was a night-watchman state from 1830 to 1860. Anyone able to go into detail about that? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 155.68.112.71 (talk) 01:50, 27 October 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Prisons

The prisons can be private also, although in cooperation with the government. The same for the weapons factories. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 129.240.71.222 (talk) 17:11, 2 May 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Link please?

Would a kind soul please put a link to the "tyranny of the majority" article at the end of this paragraph? It is extremely relevant and informative on the topic.

"Another is that if the powers of the night watchman state are limited by a constitution which cannot be amended by the people, then it is undemocratic, although this indicates a general ignorance of the entire point of the night watchman state as an alternative to majoritarian tyranny."

Thanks. MisplacedFate1313 (talk) 14:30, 2 July 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Why is this separate from minarchism?

Just curious. It doesn't seem like this subject warrants a separate article, since it seems almost identical to minarchism. -- LightSpectra (talk) 03:35, 29 September 2008 (UTC)[reply]

I can see a short article on the phrase itself if it has an interesting history, but all the pros and cons do belong under minarchism - if they have some sort of reliable resource. For the most part this is all just WP:Original research. Carol Moore 13:05, 29 September 2008 (UTC)Carolmooredc
Exactly my question. And why should there be two links on the government portal?
~ender 2008-11-29 11:08:AM MST —Preceding unsigned comment added by 4.240.18.165 (talk)

What is the history of this concept?

To be honest, I'm wondering if this was an inspiration for Alan Moore's graphic novel with its theme of "who will watch the watchmen"? In this case I'm thinking it will be the people with money. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 144.89.186.134 (talk) 07:41, 30 April 2009 (UTC)[reply]


Merger Proposal

To discuss, go here:Wikipedia:Village_pump_(proposals)#Merger_proposal_:_Minarchism. --JokerXtreme (talk) 11:08, 7 March 2010 (UTC)[reply]

Libertarianism and Minarchism

File:Political Ideology Interconnectedness Venn Diagram.jpg
File:Scope of Government Diagram.jpg

Here are some sources that I compiled for the libertarianism page. Most of them will work here as well. The diagrams are solely to facilitate discussion.

Interesting that libertarianism isn't mentioned in the lead of this article and the word minarchism isn't used even once in any of these quotes. Well...tenets trump labels.

The sources first establish a strong connection between classical liberalism and libertarianism. Next they identify who the most prominent libertarians are. Lastly they look at their viewpoints on the scope of government.

Classical Liberalism and Libertarianism

  • The word liberal has an odd history. It comes from the same root as liberty, and originally it simply meant ""free."" In that broad sense, the United States as a whole is a liberal country, and all popular American ideologies are variants of liberalism. In a more restricted definition, a liberal was a person who believed in limited government and who opposed religion in politics. A hundred years ago, liberalism referred to a philosophy that in some ways resembeled modern-day libertarianism. For that reason, many libertarians today refer to themselves as classical liberals. - American Government and Politics Today 2008: The Essentials
  • The classical liberal movements of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries are, of course, the forebears of contemporary libertarian thought. - Total freedom: toward a dialectical libertarianism
  • Contemporary libertarians believe, with some legitimacy, that the greatest threat to liberty is an expanding government with a monopoly on state power. Their answer: limit government, protect a basic skein of fundamental rights, and the rest will work itself out. In this respect, libertarians are true heirs of the classical liberal tradition. - The Political Centrist
  • Libertarianism has been more an intellectual than popular movement since its ancestor, classical liberalism, was first articulated by John Locke. William Maddox and Stuart Lillie identified six tenets of classical liberalism to which American libertarians subscribe in a modified form today: individualism, an instrumental view of the state, limited government, individual rights, legal equality, and representative government. These six tenets cluster around two domestic policy questions - the proper role of government and the prescriptions for apparent social inequalities. - Hostile takeover: the House Republican Party, 1980-1995
  • Scalet and Schmidtz quite correctly identify the classical liberal contribution to political theory as its focus on limited government, rather than (as classical liberals are often accused of preferring) "weak" government. The size of government is not the primary concern of classical liberals; its limits are. Limited governments tend to be small relative to unlimited governments. They also note that "classical liberals have been champions of democracy." The two issues - limited government and democracy - have traditionally been linked together in classical liberal thought by the theory of constitutionalism, which limits the powers of majorities no less than of minorities. - Realizing freedom: libertarian theory, history, and practice

Most Prominent/Influential Libertarians

This source establishes the prominence of Jefferson, Tocqueville, Adam Smith, John Stuart Mill, Ludwig von Mises, Friedrich von Hayek and Ayn Rand...

Libertarians cite as progenitors Jefferson, Tocqueville, Adam Smith, and John Stuart Mill as well as economists of the Austrian school Ludwig von Mises and Friedrich von Hayek, author of The Road to Serfdom (1944). But most Republican libertarians were first inspired not by these classical liberals but by the author of The Fountainhead and Atlas Shrugged. - New York Magazine Mar 4, 1996

This source establishes the prominence of John Stuart Mill and Herbert Spencer...

John Stuart Mill, the great and generous theorist of liberalism, and Herbert Spencer, a major exponent of laissez-faire individualism, whose writings appealed immensely to the Spanish anarchists, can be - and have been - rightly designated as 'libertarians' - Anarchist seeds beneath the snow

This source establishes the prominence of John Stuart Mill...

In contemporary times, libertarians have positioned themselves as the heirs to J. S. Mill and his defense of individual liberty. Their ideas have grown increasingly influential. Contemporary libertarians embrace Mill's On Liberty because it "sounds important libertarian themes: that individuals should be free to live as they choose so long as they don't harm others and that the power of government should be strictly limited." - Putting ideas to work: a practical introduction to political thought

This source establishes the prominence of Robert Nozick...

With thirty years' distance on its publication, one can safely assert that Robert Nozick's Anarchy, State, and Utopia (1974) has achieved the status of a classic. It is not only the central text for all contemporary academic discussions of libertarianism; together with John Rawls's A Theory of Justice (1971), it arguably framed the landscape of academic political philosophy in the last decades of the twentieth century. - Natural rights liberalism from Locke to Nozick, Part 1

This source establishes the prominence of John Stuart Mill, Ludwig von Mises, Friedrich Hayek and Ayn Rand...

This political philosophy has a long pedigree. It has roots in the classical liberalism of eighteenth- and nineteenth- century British thinkers such as John Stuart Mill, and, more recently, in the Austrian school of economics represented more powerfully in the United States by Ludwig von Mises and Friedrich Hayek. On a more popular level, the novelists Ayn Rand and Robert Heinlein proved effective propagators of a radical anti-statist, individualist ethos, and according to historian Brian Doherty, more than half of the earliest Libertarians cited one of those two authors as their primary ideological influence. - Encyclopedia of American political history

Libertarians on the Scope of Government

John Stuart Mill's viewpoint on the scope of government...

That the only purpose for which power can be rightfully exercised over any member of a civilized community, against his will, is to prevent harm to others. - On Liberty

Ayn Rand's viewpoint on the scope of government...

The proper functions of a government fall into three broad categories, all of them involving the issues of physical force and the protection of men’s rights: the police, to protect men from criminals—the armed services, to protect men from foreign invaders—the law courts, to settle disputes among men according to objective laws. - The Nature of Government

Herbert Spencer viewpoint on the scope of government (shorter)...

The challenge facing Americans today in defending constitutionally limited government was succinctly stated by the English libertarian Herbert Spencer in 1884: "The function of Liberalism in the past was that of putting a limit to the powers of kings. The function of true Liberalism in the future will be that of putting a limit to the powers of Parliaments - Realizing freedom: libertarian theory, history, and practice

Herbert Spencer's viewpoint on the scope of government (longer)...

And now mark that whether we consider government from this point of view, or from that previously occupied, our conclusions respecting it are in essence identical. For when government fulfils the function here assigned it, of retaining men in the circumstances to which they are to be adapted, it fulfils the function which we on other grounds assigned it — that of protector. To administer justice, — to mount guard over men's rights, — is simply to render society possible. And seeing that the two definitions are thus at root the same, we shall be prepared for the fact that, in whichever way we specify its duty, the State cannot exceed that duty without defeating itself. For, if regarded as a protector, we find that the moment it does anything more than protect, it becomes an aggressor instead of a protector; and, if regarded as a help to adaptation, we find that when it does anything more than sustain the social state, it retards adaptation instead of hastening it. - Social statics

Robert Nozick viewpoint on the scope of government...

Our main conclusions about the state are that a minimal state, limited to the narrow functions of protection against force, theft, fraud, enforcement of contracts, and so on, is justified; that any more extensive state will violate persons' rights not to be forced to do certain things, and is unjustified; and that the minimal state is inspiring as well as right. Two noteworthy implications are that the state may not use its coercive apparatus for the purpose of getting some citizens to aid others, or in order to prohibit activities to people for their own good or protection. - The Political Theory of Robert Nozick

Adam Smith's viewpoint on the scope of government...

Although Smith was against governmental interference with the market, he had a a theory of government sometimes known as the "duties of the sovereign". The system of natural liberty required the sovereign to perform three duties; defense, the exact administration of justice, and the erection and maintenance of public works. Even though he was a libertarian, Smith realized that the market could not provide certain public goods which were too expensive for provision by private individuals. - Public Sector Economics for Developing Countries

Ludwig von Mises's viewpoint on the scope of government...

Liberalism differs radically from anarchism. It has nothing in common with the absurd illusions of the anarchists. We must emphasize this point because etatists sometimes try to discover a similarity. Liberalism is not so foolish as to aim at the abolition of the state. Liberals fully recognize that no social coöperation and no civilization could exist without some amount of compulsion and coercion. It is the task of government to protect the social system against the attacks of those who plan actions detrimental to its maintenance and operation. - Omnipotent Government

Friedrich Hayek's viewpoint on the scope of government...

These words were even more significant because of the government services to which he applied them - "without exception to all those services of which government possesses a legal monopoly, with the only exception of maintaining and enforcing the law and maintaining for this purpose an armed force, i.e. all those from education to transport and communications, including post, telegraph, telephone and broadcasting services, all the so-called 'public utilities,' the various 'social' insurances and, above all, the issue of money." In the last pages of Law, Legislation and Liberty, published in 1979, Hayek the classical liberal became Hayek the libertarian. - Friedrich Hayek: a biography

Milton Friedman's viewpoint on the scope of government...

First, the scope of government must be limited. Its major functions must be to protect our freedom both from the enemies outside our gates and from our fellow-citizens: to preserve law and order, to enforce private contracts, to foster competitive markets. Beyond this major function, government may enable us at times to accomplish jointly what we would find it more difficult or expensive to accomplish severally. However, any such use of government is fraught with danger. We should not and cannot avoid using government this way. But there should be a clear and large balance of advantages before we do. By relying primarily on voluntary co-operation and private enterprise, in both economic and other activities, we can insure that the private sector is a check on the powers of the governmental sector and an effective protection of freedom of speech, of religion, and of thought. - Capitalism and freedom

Dick Armey's viewpoint on the scope of government...

While one can reject this notion of a stripped-down state, libertarianism is a principled and coherent worldview. It provides an answer to every question. Police departments and the army - yes. Just about everything else - no. Ask most politicians, from Gingrich to Clinton, what the role of the federal government is, and you'll get a stream of mush. Poke a libertarian and you'll get a response like the one Dick Armey gave shortly after becoming majority leader: "Defend our shores, build a system of justice, and construct some infrastructure. Gee, I'm running out of other suggestions." - New York Magazine Mar 4, 1996

David Boaz's viewpoint on the scope of government...

Libertarians argue that we can and should move a long way toward minimal government; outside of the protection of our rights by police, courts, and national defense, it's hard to think of goods and services that could be produced more efficiently by a government bureaucracy than in the competitive marketplace. - Libertarianism: A Primer

James Walsh's viewpoint on the scope of government...

Libertarians accept the need for a limited state - if only to provide basic levels of safety and security. Their focus is keeping the state limited to a disciplined - and small - number of activities. Anarchists still want to smash the mechanisms of state. As I've noted, anarchy is an emotional system. - Liberty in Troubled Times: A Libertarian Guide to Laws, Politics and Society in a Terrorized World

Richard A. Epstein's viewpoint on the scope of government...

This basic insight - law must control the most lawless - lies behind the strong insistence on the basic rules of ordinary society. It also explains the libertarian's constant theoretical emphasis that the function of government is to control the use of force and fraud against the person and property of others. - Forbidden Grounds: The Case Against Employment Discrimination Laws

Here's a simple yet effective definition of libertarianism...

A political ideology that is opposed to all government action except as necessary to protect life and property - The Challenge of Democracy: Government in America

My favorite definition...

The right to swing my fist ends where the other man's nose begins. - Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr

--Xerographica (talk) 10:06, 28 September 2010 (UTC)[reply]