Libertarian pledge

The Libertarian pledge, a statement individuals must sign in order to join the Libertarian Party of the United States, declares, "I hereby certify that I do not believe in or advocate the initiation of force as a means of achieving political or social goals." [http://members.atlantic.net/~dwatney/reid/reid23.htm] Supposedly, Libertarian Party founder David Nolan created the pledge in 1971. [http://marketliberal.org/FixLP.html]

The pledge is required by Section 5.1 of the national bylaws [http://www.lp.org/files/pdfs/bylaws-2008.pdf] and many state affiliates of the Libertarian Party also have bylaw provisions requiring it. [For example, [http://www.wyolp.org/pledge.html Libertarian Party of Wyoming] , [http://www.lputah.org/pledge Libertary Party of Utah] and [http://scclp.org/joomla/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=19&Itemid=82 Libertarian Party of Santa Clara County] mention the pledge on their sites.] At the 2006 Libertarian National Convention, the Libertarian Reform Caucus attempted to repeal the pledge but failed to obtain the necessary two-thirds vote. [http://allencountylp.blogspot.com/2006/07/2006-libertarian-national-convention.html] There have been many proposals to change or eliminate the pledge. [http://reformthelp.org/party/pledge/fixingThePledge.php] [http://www.rayrob.org/library/RFR/Libertarian_Pledge/Pledge.htm] [http://reformthelp.org/party/pledge/positive.php] [http://blog.360.yahoo.com/knowinghumans?p=171]

A reference to the pledge was made on April 17, 2001 when, in response to Timothy McVeigh's description of himself as a libertarian, Libertarian Party national director Steve Dasbach said: [citation|author=Libertarian Party|title=Libertarians rebuke Timothy McVeigh|date=2001-04-17]

ee also

*Libertarian perspectives on revolution
*Non-aggression principle

References