Principled Populism

The Libertarian Party is a mass-participation party operating in the electoral area and elsewhere, devoted to consistent libertarian principles, and committed to liberty and justice for all. The Libertarian Party trusts in and relies on the people to welcome a program of liberty and justice and always aims strategically at convincing the bulk of the people of the soundness of libertarian doctrine. 

Rights Are Primary 

The central commitment of the Libertarian Party is to individual liberty on the basis of rights and moral principle, and not on the basis of economic cost-benefit estimates. 

Power Elite Analysis 

Society is divided into a state-privileged class and a state-oppressed class and is ruled by a power elite. The proper class analysis is rulers vs. ruled. Libertarian Party strategy and pronouncements will reflect these facts. 

Resistance & The Oppressed 

The Libertarian Party will make a special effort to recruit members from groups most oppressed by the government so that the indignation of those who experience oppression is joined to that of those who oppose oppression in principle. The Libertarian Party will never approve of the initiation of force, nor will it rule out self-defence and resistance to tyranny. 

No Compromise 

All reforms advocated by the Libertarian Party will diminish governmental power and no such reforms will contradict the goal of a totally free society. Holding high our principles means avoiding completely the quagmire of self-imposed, obligatory gradualism: We will avoid the view that, in the name of fairness, abating suffering, or fulfilling expectations, we must temporise and stall on the road to liberty. 

No Particular Order 

The removal of a harmful government policy will never be held up as a condition for removing another, for this throws self-imposed barriers in the path of liberty and removes potential pressures for change. For example, saying that borders may be opened only after welfare is eliminated is unacceptable; the proper position is to push for both changes. Should we succeed in achieving open borders only to find that welfare burdens are increased, this should be used as an additional argument to abolish welfare. 

Strategic Centrism 

Avoiding the twin errors of sectarianism and opportunism is key. Simply repeating our basic principles and not proposing transition measures is ineffective in the short run because only a small part of the populace is interested in liberty in the abstract, and hiding or abandoning our principled positions is ineffective in the long run because it fails to sustain us as a movement and attract and retain new Libertarians. 

Radical Abolitionism 

As the word radical means "going to the root" of something, radical Libertarians will not merely propose small changes to the status quo and debate the fine points of government policy with their opponents, but will propose the abolition of State institutions and programs while calling attention to the evil at their base: aggression, violence, and tyranny inherent in the State. Because justice and logic are on our side, the best candidates and spokespersons will sound eminently reasonable while maintaining radical libertarian positions. 

Anti-Imperialism & Centrality of Foreign Policy 

The Libertarian Party will bring to the public the truth about the continuing threat to world peace posed by foreign policy. No one should be deceived by the notion that any government, which has a relatively benign domestic policy, therefore has a relatively benign foreign policy. 

Anti-State Coalition

We are anti-state. However, for purposes of party programs and activities, the issue of the ultimate legitimacy of government per se is not relevant. We will not exclude minimal statists from party life.