Dallas Accord

The Dallas Accord was an implicit agreement made at the 1974 Libertarian National Convention to compromise between the anarcho-capitalist and minarchist factions by adopting a platform that explicitly did not say whether it was desirable for the state to exist.^[1]

The 1972 Statement of Principles, which said that "the sole function of government is the protection of the rights of each individual" and "government has only one legitimate function, the protection of individual rights," was protected in the original LP Constitution (now called the Bylaws) by requiring a 7/8 vote to change it. However, the rule provided a one-time exception, allowing a 2/3 vote to change the SoP at the 1974 convention.^[2]

The idea behind the Dallas Accord was to make the Libertarian Party of the United States a "big tent" that would welcome more ideologically diverse group of people interested in reducing the size of government. Therefore, the 1974 platform focused on statements arguing for getting government out of various activities, and used phrases such as "where governments exist..." It was agreed that the topic of anarchism would not even be on the table for discussion until a limited government were achieved.^[3]

The compromise lasted until the 2006 Libertarian National Convention, when the platform was changed (at the behest of the Libertarian Reform Caucus) to specifically state that government has a legitimate role in protecting rights. This convention also deleted 46 out of the 2004 platform's 61 planks, rather than just the 15 that the Reform Caucus had targeted -- a development described as the "Portland Massacre".^[4] It was superseded by the Denver Accord in which delegates to the 2008 convention in Denver decided by an unbroken series of greater than 90% supermajorities to adopt an explicitly minarchist platform and to delete the planks which had survived the Portland convention.

The number of anarchists in the Libertarian Party had fallen from 31% in 1988 to 13% in 1998.^[5]

References

1. ^ Hihn, Mike (August 1997). "The Dallas Accord, Minarchists, and why our members sign a pledge". Washington Libertarian (Libertarian Party). http://www.lpwa.org/news/newsletter/aug97/index.htm#party. Retrieved 2008-09-28. ^{[dead link]}
2. ^ http://libertarianintelligence.com/2008/05/restore74-with-denver-accord.html
3. ^ http://crazyforliberty.com/2008/05/07/anarchism-age-of-consent-laws-and-the-dallas-accord-wayne-allyn-root.aspx
4. ^ Antman, Less. "The Dallas Accord Is Dead". Lewrockwell.com. May 12, 2008.
5. ^ Knapp, Thomas. "Time for a new Dallas Accord?", Rational Review.