Libertarianism
Libertarianism, in its modern sense, seeks to reduce the state to a minimum, usually to courts, police and defence. It defends individual sovereignty over one's body and property, and opposes most regulation, taxation and restrictions on personal behaviour.
- People own themselves and the fruits of their labour; coercion of peaceful people is wrong.
- The state should be limited to protecting rights: courts, police and national defence.
- Drugs, speech and other personal choices should not be regulated by law.
Modern libertarianism draws on classical liberalism and the Austrian school of economics, particularly Ludwig von Mises. Ayn Rand's novels, Robert Nozick's Anarchy, State, and Utopia (1974) and the founding of the US Libertarian Party in 1971 made it a distinct movement. In Europe the word historically referred to anarchists, so usage differs.
Critics argue that without a stronger state, monopolies, pollution and poverty go unchecked. Others note that some public goods, such as clean air and basic research, are hard to provide privately.
Countries and historical regimes whose 12-axis profile is closer to Libertarianism than to any other ideology in the test.
Historical regimes
Method: each ideology is placed at a typical position on the 12 axes, scored from 0 to 100 toward the first pole. Ranks compare it with the other 45 ideologies; matches are 100 minus the average distance across all axes. The positions are our own calibration, not taken from any third-party source.