Minarchism

Minarquism is a political philosophy that proposes that the size, role and influence of the State in a free society should be minimal, just large enough to protect a nation's airspace. The minarchy is a model of a state whose only functions are to provide its citizens with police, military, and courts, protecting them from aggression and theft, and enforcing property laws. Historian Charles Townshend described the United Kingdom of the 19th century as the standard-bearer of this form of government among European countries.

The term is perhaps most frequently used to refer to libertarians, who seek and defend the existence of a State that protects individual freedom without violating it itself, and to differentiate itself from anarcho-capitalists, who consider that the State is inherently a violation of individual freedom. Minarchists maintain that a minimum government is necessary to preserve negative liberty (neutrality of laws and invasion by armies of non-minarchist states). This political theory is linked to the anti-statist tradition, which promotes the abolition of as many state functions as possible.

The term was coined in 1971 by the market anarchist Samuel Konkin.

Etymology

The term "night watchman state" (German: Nachtwächterstaat) was coined by the German socialist Ferdinand Lassalle in an 1862 speech in Berlin. In it, he criticized the bourgeois liberal limited government state, comparing it to a night watchman whose only duty was to prevent theft. The phrase quickly caught on as a description of capitalist rule, even as liberalism began to mean a more involved state or a state with a broader sphere of responsibility.

Ludwig Von Mises later opined that Lassalle tried to make limited government look ridiculous, but that it was no more ridiculous than governments that concerned themselves with "the preparation of sauerkraut, the making of trouser buttons or the publication of newspapers".

Proponents of the night watchman state are called minarchists, an acronym of minimum and -archy. Arche (/ ɑr k i /; Ancient Greek: ἀρχή) is a Greek word that came to mean "first place, power", "method of government", "empire, kingdom", "authorities" (plural: ἀρχαί) or "command". The term minarchist was coined by Samuel Edward Konkin III in 1980.

Philosophy

Minarchists generally justify the state on the basis that it is the logical consequence of adhering to the principle of non-aggression. They argue that anarcho-capitalism is impractical because it is not sufficient to enforce the principle of non-aggression since the application of laws under anarchism is open to competition. Another common justification is that private defense and court firms would tend to represent the interests of those who paid them enough.

Some minarchists argue that a state is inevitable and believe that anarchy is useless. Robert Nozick, who introduced the idea of a minimal state in Anarchy, State, and Utopia (1974), argued that a nightwatchman state provides a framework that allows any political system to respect human rights. fundamental individuals and, therefore, morally justify the existence of a state.

General principles

Minarchists agree that the determining principle over what does or does not fall within the purview of government is the maximization of individual liberty, but they generally disagree about how to achieve this. Many minarchists generally agree that the state should be restricted to its "minimal" or "watchdog" functions (i.e. courts, police, prisons, and defense forces). Some minarchists include the management of essential public infrastructure (e.g., roads and currency) as the ideal role of government. In general, minarchists favor administering and financing government services in a small jurisdiction (such as a city or municipality) rather than a large one (such as a state or nation). This is because decisions are presumed to be more efficient when those who make them are closer to the subjects of their decisions (the citizens), and thus individuals who do not wish to live or work under an expansive government have more options (it is more easier to move to another city or municipality than to another state or nation), which puts more downsizing political pressure on the government.

Minarchists generally oppose government programs that transfer wealth or give subsidies to certain sectors of the economy. However, most of them admit some level of state financing, including taxes for particular cases, as long as individual freedom and the principle of non-aggression are not compromised.

Some minarchists explain their vision of the State by referring to basic principles rather than arguing in terms of pragmatic results. For example, Robert Nozick in his book Anarchy, State, and Utopia, defines the role of the minimal State as follows:

"Our general conclusions about the State are that a minimum State, limited to the functions of protection against violence, theft, fraud, the violation of contracts and other similarities, is justifiable; any other larger State would violate the right of persons not to be forced to do certain things and is unjustifiable; and that the minimum State is inspiring as well as correct. Two implications worthy of note are that the State should not use its coercive apparatus in order to ensure that some citizens help others, or to prohibit people from activities for their own benefit or protection. "

Robert Nozick

Robert Nozick received the National Book Award in the Philosophy and Religion category for his book Anarchy, State and Utopia, which was partially inspired by philosophical conversations he had with Murray Rothbard. There, Nozick argues that only a minimal state limited to the limited functions of protection against "force, fraud, theft, and administration of courts of law" could be justified without violating people's rights. Nozick is one of the main references of this way of conceiving libertarianism.

In contrast, other minarchists use utilitarian arguments, such as Ludwig von Mises' contributions to the Austrian School, or statistical economic research, such as the Index of Economic Freedom.

Other arguments in favor of minarchism are natural rights, contractualism and egalitarianism.

Prominent minarchists include Benjamin Constant de Rebecque, Herbert Spencer, Leonard Read, Ludwig von Mises, Friedrich von Hayek, James M. Buchanan, Milton Friedman, Ayn Rand, John Hospers, Santiago Heissen, Robert Nozick, and George Reisman.

Organizations that include minarchist members and supporters are for example the Reason Foundation, the Juan de Mariana Institute, the International Society for Individual Liberty and Bureaucrash.

There are proposals for the progressive reduction and dissolution of state powers in other political trends that are very foreign to the liberal vision of a minimal State.^{[citation required]} However, they have not had equal diffusion.

There are also libertarian socialists like Robert Anton Wilson, who defend a minimal State. For his part, Camilo Gómez, although identified with anarchism, has proposed a "limited government socialism" for electoral purposes.

Some Marxists point out that Karl Marx indicated that the bourgeois State had to be dismantled to make way for a "semi-State" prior to the final extinction of the State.

Criticism of minarchism

Some think that minarchism is a contradictory ideology. Market libertarianism, by definition, opposes the initiation of the use of force or fraud against people or private property. For a State to finance itself, it would have to tax people, which requires coercion and, therefore, the initiation of the use of force. Some libertarian liberals argue that market anarchism, and by extension anarchism, is the only logically consistent type of libertarian ideology. It is also considered contradictory to establish that violence is immoral, but that violence is maintained by a government.

However, supporters of minarchism counterargue that a government could be financed through private donations and the creation of trust funds without any taxes. Even if a government could be funded voluntarily, there still remains an authority that holds a monopoly on force in a given area and, as such, would be in control. The mere existence of a government, regardless of how it is financed, erodes the principle of self-ownership, since the government is there to control.

Additionally, some libertarian liberals think that the concept of "constitutionally limited government" is a fallacy. Every known government in history has expanded in size and scope. The vision of the Founding Fathers of the United States of limiting the inherent power associated with government (with respect to the United States Constitution) has not worked. The size and scope of the current United States federal government is much larger than the Founding Fathers intended or envisioned.

Some minarchists think their vision is more pragmatic. However, Professor Hans-Hermann Hoppe argued that the only form of state that can pragmatically be prevented from expanding is the monarchical state (as a private property).