Libertarian Democrat

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A libertarian Democrat is a person who subscribes to libertarian philosophy while typically voting for and being involved with the United States Democratic Party. Their views may also differ from Libertarian Party members, and may be libertarian progressives.

Contents 1 Principles 2 History 3 Politicians and media personalities 4 See also 5 References

[edit] Principles

Libertarian Democrats support the civil libertarian aspect of freedom as well as supporting the kind of economic freedom that emphasizes removing corporate subsidies and other favoritism to special interests, and applying a responsible transition toward freedom - for example, some support a transition approach that includes certain trade restrictions on imports from countries that have very little freedom, so that more free trade with those countries would be phased in as they move toward more freedom.^[1] They are more likely than most Democrats to support the separation of marriage and state, tax cuts, the decriminalization of drugs (particularly marijuana), and the defense of gun rights. In contrast to Libertarian Party members or paleolibertarians, many libertarian Democrats favor some form of anti-trust policy in the special case of land and natural resources, due to their view that land is a fundamentally different kind of property than products of human effort^[2], but they typically remain open to "free-market solutions to environmental problems."^[3] They differ from many progressive Democrats in that they tend to favor the restriction of government-provided services only to "any necessary services that cannot currently be provided adequately by the non-government sector (non-profit or for-profit groups)."^[4] They are typically pro-choice but may be for or against the death penalty. They tend to favor limited government involvement in most areas of life.

[edit] History

The Democratic Freedom Caucus, founded in 1996 by Hanno Beck, Mike O'Mara, and ex-Libertarian Party member Andrew Spark^[5], is claimed by Paul Gagnon to represent what some see as the Democrats' growing libertarian Democratic movement.

[edit] Politicians and media personalities

Libertarian Democrats include Camille Paglia, Mike Gravel, Dennis Leary[1][2], Tammy Bruce[3][4] and the late civil rights activist Moorfield Storey. Some might say that democratic libertarianism has its roots in some early Democratic American presidents, including Thomas Jefferson, Martin Van Buren, Andrew Jackson, and Grover Cleveland. Former Tennesee Representative Davy Crockett also fits into this category. [5][6]

[edit] See also

• Bourbon Democrat
• Geolibertarianism
• Green libertarianism
• Left libertarianism
• Libertarian Republican

[edit] References