A Study Guide for Political Theories for Students: LIBERTARIANISM

By Gale and Cengage

Designed with busy students in mind, this concise study guide examines major political theories and is organized into the following easily digestible sections: overview, history, theory in depth, theory in action, analysis and critical response, topics for further study, and bibliography.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Cengage Learning - Gale
• Release date: Jan 27, 2015
• ISBN: 9781535831123

Book preview

libertarianism.

HISTORY

It is not unusual for the term libertarianism to bring blank stares from theorists and politicians alike; one joke suggests that a libertarian is what you get when you cross a libertine with a librarian. Although the term libertarianism is rather new, the political theory it represents—at different times also called liberalism or classical liberalism, among various other things—can be traced back to classical thought. An intellectual child of the West, libertarianism gained supporters and lost momentum in its long history, only to enjoy a new popularity around the globe at the end of the twentieth century and the beginning of the twenty–first. The broad principles of libertarianism allowed the tradition to grow, evolve, and adapt to new political and technological realities across the planet and centuries.

WHO CONTROLS GOVERNMENT? Restricted officials

HOW IS GOVERNMENT PUT INTO POWER? Group dissatisfied with previous powers

WHAT ROLES DO THE PEOPLE HAVE? Enjoy rights while not infringing on others

WHO CONTROLS PRODUCTION OF GOODS? Private individuals

WHO CONTROLS DISTRIBUTION OF GOODS? Private individuals

MAJOR FIGURES Ayn Rand; Russell Means

HISTORICAL EXAMPLE Austrian School of Economics

CHRONOLOGY

1690: John Locke's Two Treatises of Civil Government is published.

1776: The Wealth of Nations by Adam Smith is published.

1871: Carl Menger founds the Austrian School of Economics.

1943: Ayn Rand introduces the Objectivist Movement with the publication of The Fountainhead.

1944: Friedrich Hayek's Road to Serfdom is published.

1962: Calculus of Consent by James Buchanan and Gordon Tullock is published.

1971: The U.S. Libertarian Party is organized.

The first seeds of libertarian thought appeared in ancient Greece and Rome. For example, the Greek Sophists embraced the idea of equality among individuals; some went so far as to criticize the prevailing belief in natural slavery. The Athenian Pericles (c. 495–429 B.C.) praised the Greek polis and its system of equality under the law in his famous Funeral Oration. Friedrich Hayek (1899–1992), noted Austrian economist, Nobel Laureate, and libertarian, recognized the Roman statesman Cicero (106–43 BC) as the most influential precursor to libertarianism due to his defense of the concept of natural law. After antiquity, the influence of monotheism—the belief in one god for all—through Judaism and, later, Islam and Christianity reinforced the idea of one central law to which all people are held accountable.

The development of Christianity, in particular, brought new dimensions to proto–libertarian thought. After the Christian church split between East and West (1054), both sides offered important ideas to the young political theory. The Eastern church fathers from the Alexandrine School and beyond contemplated the perfectibility of humanity as a theological question. This added the issue of human flourishing and self–betterment to the political dialogue, which anticipated later German contributions to libertarian theory. In the West, especially in the Middle Ages, church leaders preserved the classics in general and studied economics and political science in particular. Different orders and communities developed specialties. For example, the Spanish School of Salamanca combined the study of Greek, Islamic, and Christian philosophy to develop a theory of market prices that informed later economic arguments borne of the Scottish Enlightenment. The second split of Christianity, that of the Reformation (begun in 1517), led to a similar dual influence on libertarianism. Catholic thought continued to explore natural law theory while Protestantism, with its priesthood of the believer doctrine, introduced a more potent individualism to the political landscape.

Political changes also added ingredients to the tradition. The rise of absolutism in Europe challenged the political, economic, and social freedom of the people. Opponents of powerful kings in England developed the myth of the ancient constitution—a notion of an ideal contract formed over time