Night-watchman state

Origin

As a term, night-watchman state () was coined by German socialist Ferdinand Lassalle in an 1862 speech in Berlin wherein he criticized the bourgeois-liberal limited government state, comparing it to a nightwatchman. The phrase quickly caught on as a description of capitalist government, even as liberalism began to mean a more involved state, or a state with a larger sphere of responsibility. Ludwig von Mises later opined that Lassalle tried to make limited government look ridiculous though it was no more ridiculous than governments that concerned themselves with "the preparation of sauerkraut, with the manufacture of trouser buttons, or with the publication of newspapers".

Proponents of the night-watchman state are minarchists, a portmanteau of minimum and -archy. Arche (; ) is a Greek word which came to mean "first place, power", "method of government", "empire, realm", "authorities" (in plural: ἀρχαί), or "command". The term minarchist was coined by Samuel Edward Konkin III in 1980.

Philosophy

Right-libertarian minarchists generally justify the state as a logical consequence of the non-aggression principle. They argue that anarcho-capitalism is impractical because it is not sufficient to enforce the non-aggression principle, as the enforcement of laws under anarchy would be open to competition. Another common objection to anarchism is that private defense and court firms would tend to represent the interests of those who pay them enough.

Left-libertarian minarchists justify the state as a temporary measure on the grounds that social safety will net benefit the working class. Some anarchists, such as Noam Chomsky, are in agreement with social democrats on the importance of welfare measures, but prefer using non-state methods. Left-libertarians such as Peter Hain are decentralists who do not advocate abolishing the state, but do wish to limit and devolve state power, stipulating that any measures favoring the wealthy be prioritized for repeal before those which benefit the poor.

Some minarchists argue that a state is inevitable because anarchy is futile. Robert Nozick, who publicized the idea of a minimal state in Anarchy, State, and Utopia (1974), argued that a night-watchman state provides a framework that allows for any political system that respects fundamental individual rights and therefore morally justifies the existence of a state. Robert Nozick believes minarchy will arise as a consequence of Anarcho-capitalism. He argues, that a private defense agency (PDA) will eventually become a monopoly and function as a sort of small state within an anarcho-capitalist system.

References

Notes

Bibliography

• Machan, Tibor R. (December 2002). "Anarchism and Minarchism. A Rapprochement". Journal des Economists et des Estudes Humaines. 14 (4): 569–588.
• Nozick, Robert (1974). Anarchy, State, and Utopia. New York City: Basic Books.
• Ostrowski, Marius S. (2014). "Towards libertarian welfarism: protecting agency in the night-watchman state". Journal of Political Ideologies. 13 (1): 107–128.
• Wolff, Jonathan (1991). Robert Nozick: Property, Justice, and the Minimal State. Cambridge, England: Polity Press.

References

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2. Peikoff, Leonard (March 7, 2011). [http://www.peikoff.com/2011/03/07/what-role-should-certain-specific-governments-play-in-objectivist-government "What role should certain specific governments play in Objectivist government?"] {{Webarchive. link. (September 12, 2014 . Peikoff.com. Retrieved January 2, 2020.)
3. Peikoff, Leonard. (October 3, 2011). "Interview with Yaron Brook on economic issues in today's world (Part 1)". Peikoff.com.
4. Hain, Peter (July/August 2000). [https://www.chartist.org.uk/articles/britpol/july_hain.html "Rediscovering our libertarian roots"]. ''Chartist''. {{webarchive. link. (June 21, 2013. Retrieved February 1, 2020.)
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6. Nozick, Robert. (1974). "Anarchy, State, and Utopia". [[Basic Books]].
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9. Von Mises, Ludwig (1927) [1922]. ''[[Liberalism (book). link. (April 21, 2023 .)
10. "Ἀρχή". [[A Greek-English Lexicon]].
11. Konkin III, Samuel Edward (1980). ''[[New Libertarian Manifesto]]''. p. 9.
12. (2008). "Anarchism/Minarchism: Is a Government Part of a Free Country?". Ashgate Publishing.
13. Holcombe, Randall G.. (2004). "Government: Unnecessary but Inevitable". The Independent Review.
14. "Chomsky Replies to Multiple Questions About Anarchism". ZCommunications.
15. Richman, Sheldon (February 3, 2011). [http://www.theamericanconservative.com/blog/libertarian-left/ "Libertarian Left: Free-market anti-capitalism, the unknown ideal"]. ''The American Conservative''. {{webarchive. link. (June 10, 2019. Retrieved March 5, 2012. "[Left-libertarians] prefer that corporate privileges be repealed ''before'' the regulatory restrictions on how those privileges may be exercised.")
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