CONNECT WITH THE LIBERTARIAN HOMELAND

An Experiment in Civic Engagement: The Free State Project

Joseph Spear

The Free State Project (FSP), a not-for-profit group, is organizing 20,000 activists in the Libertarian Party to relocate their families and livelihoods to New Hampshire in an effort to rekindle the spirit of "liberty." One of FSP's primary goals is building a local culture of community and civic engagement.

Using the concepts of the Canadian political party Parti Quebecois, FSP hopes to move a third-party campaign into higher gear.

FSP has partnered with the Libertarian Party in order to establish a strong presence in one single U.S. state and gain influence over that state's electoral and political processes. The group has yet to clearly define its exact political vehicle, but it is expected to be a combination of libertarians, classic liberals, constitutionalists and others supportive of the organization's basic goals. Currently, the Libertarian Party has 40,000 paid memberships in the U.S. and has determined that at least another 20,000 activists can be recruited to sway public policy and voting behavior.

Founded in 2001, the FSP remains in its infancy but has promised to fold if it does not recruit 20,000 participants by 2006.

If the goal is met and the project proceeds as planned, participants will have five years to relocate to a city or county of their choice in New Hampshire. Each of the 20,000 participants will be encouraged to play a role in the upcoming elections.

FSP members are expected to assist with at least three of the following: financially support pro-freedom think tanks, financially support pro-freedom candidates, write letters to appropriate newsletters and legislators, participate in demonstrations, and volunteer their time and efforts to political or ideological agendas. Organizers also anticipate that about 25% of the participants will serve in local governments across the state. In addition, they estimate that each participant will influence three additional people to support the FSP political agenda.

Some of the political goals FSP hopes to accomplish include:

The selection of New Hampshire, as well as the overall strategy for the U.S. project, is derived from the Parti Quebecois's success in winning the majority of seats in the Canadian Parliament in 1973. The Parti was a collection of dissidents from the Liberal Party of Quebec and smaller pro-independence groups, with approximately 100,000 members in 1973 - representing 1 in 62 residents in Quebec. Based on those results,the FSP determined that it would need a comparable ratio in a U.S. state to make a significant impact, and so selected a state with less than a population of 1.5 million.

Organizers also note that they should be able to outspend both the Republican and Democratic parties in a smaller state, which increases their potential of victory. In 2000, the Libertarian Party spent $5.2 million on campaigns, and FSP leaders determined they could raise an equivalent amount in every two year election cycle. Using that amount as an indicator, they found that Republican and Democratic Parties combined spent less than $5.2 million in only four states.

A total of 12 U.S. states met those two criteria. Hawaii and Rhode Island, however, were eliminated because of their propensity for centralized government. Ten states remained: Wyoming, Alaska, North Dakota, South Dakota, Vermont, Delaware, Montana, Idaho, Maine and New Hampshire.

Once organizers gained support from 5,000 dedicated activists, they asked them to vote on one of the ten states in regards to a wide variety of topics ranging from quality of life to the potential civic impact. New Hampshire, with its "Live Free or Die" motto, was the state of choice. The anticipated migration of 20,000 participants into the population of 1,250,000 will provide the FSP with the needed 1 in 62 activist to current resident ratio.

According to the FSP website, New Hampshire--named the "most livable state" in 2004 by Morgan Quitno Press--was chosen "because it has the lowest state and local tax burden in the continental U.S., the second-lowest level of dependence on federal spending in the U.S., a citizen legislature where state house representatives have not raised their $100 per year salary since 1889, the lowest crime levels in the U.S., a dynamic economy with plenty of jobs and investment, and a culture of individual responsibility indicated by, for example, a lack of seatbelt and helmet requirements for adults".

Oklahoma would have required considerably more participants to meet the prerequisite criteria. Having a population of approximately 3.4 million, FSP would have needed to recruit 55,000 participants. In addition, FSP organizers would need to raise $16.2 million in any given election cycle to outspend the combined Republican and Democratic expenditures.

While FSP is not a political party per se, it is a movement designed to influence political outcomes by instilling their views of liberty in the voting public in New Hampshire. FSP has set the standards and strategies to follow. Once the 20,000 participants are recruited, it will be their role to implement the plan. If successful, it will send a message to the U.S. and other democratic societies about the power of Libertarian.