Libertarian Party



The Libertarian party was formally founded in the United States in December of 1971 but its ideas and beliefs have been prevalent in the country since its founding. Libertarians favor minimal government, encourage taking responsibility for one’s own actions and oppose governmental interference in or regulation of personal lives and business decisions. Essentially, they endorse lower taxes, more freedom and smaller government. You can find both liberal and conservative people who identify with the Libertarians and may even be card carrying members.

Despite being a legitimate political party with more than 250,000 members, the Libertarian party is not recognized as one that can vote in the presidential primary.

Libertarian PartyWhen it was founded, the Libertarian Party name was chosen over the “New Liberty Party” as the official name. Its emblem was originally an upward arrow but was thankfully replaced with Lady Liberty. For the past decade there has been talk of a party symbol; the Democrats have their donkey, the Republicans have their elephant and if a small group of Libertarians have their way the Libertarian party will have a penguin to represent them! Their slogan is “The Party of Principle”.

Although its official history is a relatively short one, the founders of the United States Constitution could be said to be Libertarians. Our founding document emphasized government as a minimal influence on the country, responsible mainly for the protection of the country and leaving the rest of governance to the states. The Libertarian party strives to return to those days of minimal government, maintaining that our federal government has been given powers that should be relegated to the individual states.

Today there are nearly 150 Libertarians in elected office throughout the United States. They are neither conservative nor liberal but often a combination of the two.