View source for Night-watchman state

{{short description|Minimal state}}
{{use mdy dates|date=October 2020}}
{{Redirect-distinguish|Minarchism|Monarchism}}
[[File:The Night Watch - HD.jpg|thumb|300x300px|The term was coined by [[Ferdinand Lassalle]] and derived from the [[Watchman (law enforcement)|watchman]] system used by various European cities starting in the medieval period. The voluntary militia functioned as a [[city guard]] for internal policing and against external aggression.

Painting: ''[[The Night Watch]]'']]
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{{forms of government}}
A '''night-watchman state''', also referred to as a '''minimal state''' or '''minarchy''', whose proponents are known as '''minarchists''', is a model of a [[State (polity)|state]] that is limited and minimal, whose functions depend on [[libertarian]] theory. [[Right-libertarians]] support it only as an enforcer of the [[non-aggression principle]] by providing citizens with the military, the police, and courts, thereby protecting them from [[aggression]], theft, [[breach of contract]], fraud, and enforcing [[property law]]s.<ref name="Gregory">Gregory, Anthony (May 10, 2004). [http://www.strike-the-root.com/4/gregory/gregory6.html "The Minarchist's Dilemma"]. ''Strike the Root: A Journal of Liberty''. {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200112154257/http://www.strike-the-root.com/4/gregory/gregory6.html|date=January 12, 2020}}. Retrieved February 1, 2020.</ref><ref name="Peikoff">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|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140912094317/http://www.peikoff.com/2011/03/07/what-role-should-certain-specific-governments-play-in-objectivist-government |date=September 12, 2014 }}. Peikoff.com. Retrieved January 2, 2020.</ref><ref name="Peikoff Part 1">{{cite web|url=http://www.peikoff.com/2011/10/03/interview-with-yaron-brook-on-economic-issues-in-todays-world-part-1/|title=Interview with Yaron Brook on economic issues in today's world (Part 1)|last=Peikoff|first=Leonard|publisher=Peikoff.com|date=October 3, 2011|access-date=January 2, 2020|archive-date=September 12, 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140912102312/http://www.peikoff.com/2011/10/03/interview-with-yaron-brook-on-economic-issues-in-todays-world-part-1/|url-status=live}}</ref>

In the [[United States]], this [[form of government]] is mainly associated with [[Libertarianism in the United States|libertarian]] and [[objectivist]] political philosophy. In other countries, minarchism is also advocated by some non-anarchist [[libertarian socialists]] and other [[left-libertarians]].<ref name="Hain 2000">Hain, Peter (July/August 2000). [https://www.chartist.org.uk/articles/britpol/july_hain.html "Rediscovering our libertarian roots"]. ''Chartist''. {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130621010116/https://www.chartist.org.uk/articles/britpol/july_hain.html|date=June 21, 2013}}. Retrieved February 1, 2020.</ref><ref name="Marshall 2009">Marshall, Peter (2009) [1991]. ''[[Demanding the Impossible: A History of Anarchism]]'' (POLS ed.). Oakland, California: PM Press. [https://books.googlecomt/books?id=QDWIOL_KtGYC&pg=PA641&dq=Left+libertarianism+can+therefore+range+from+the+decentralist+who+wishes+to+limit+and+devolve+State+power,+to+the+syndicalist+who+wants+to+abolish+it+altogether.+It+can+even+encompass+the+Fabians+and+the+social+democrats+who+wish+to+socialize+the+economy+but+who+still+see+a+limited+role+for+the+State&hl=it&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwj9kfqN0bDnAhVDPFAKHcwfAngQ6AEIKzAA#v=onepage&q=Left%20libertarianism%20can%20therefore%20range%20from%20the%20decentralist%20who%20wishes%20to%20limit%20and%20devolve%20State%20power%2C%20to%20the%20syndicalist%20who%20wants%20to%20abolish%20it%20altogether.%20It%20can%20even%20encompass%20the%20Fabians%20and%20the%20social%20democrats%20who%20wish%20to%20socialize%20the%20economy%20but%20who%20still%20see%20a%20limited%20role%20for%20the%20State&f=false p. 641]{{Dead link|date=February 2022 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}. "Left libertarianism can therefore range from the decentralist who wishes to limit and devolve State power, to the syndicalist who wants to abolish it altogether. It can even encompass the Fabians and the social democrats who wish to socialize the economy but who still see a limited role for the State." {{ISBN|978-1604860641}}.</ref> A night-watchman state has also been popularized by [[Robert Nozick]] in ''[[Anarchy, State, and Utopia]]'' (1974).<ref name="Nozick 1974">{{cite book|title=Anarchy, State, and Utopia|last=Nozick|first=Robert|publisher=[[Basic Books]]|year=1974|isbn=978-0465097203|url=https://archive.org/details/anarchystateutop00nozi}}</ref> The [[United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland|United Kingdom]] in the 19th century has been described by historian [[Charles Townshend (historian)|Charles Townshend]] as a standard-bearer for this form of government.<ref>{{cite book|url=https://archive.org/details/oxfordhistoryofm00town|url-access=registration|title=The Oxford History of Modern War|last=Townshend|first=Charles|publisher=Oxford University Press|year=2000|pages=[https://archive.org/details/oxfordhistoryofm00town/page/14 14]–15|quote=Britain, however, with its strong tradition of minimal government – the 'night-watchman state' – vividly illustrated the speed of the shift [during World War I] from normalcy to drastic and all-embracing wartime powers like those contained in the Defence of the Realm Act.|isbn=0192853732}}</ref>

== Origin ==
As a term, ''night-watchman state'' ({{langx|de|link=no|Nachtwächterstaat}}) 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 [[Watchman (law enforcement)|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.<ref>Sawer, Marian (2003). ''The Ethical State?: Social Liberalism in Australia''. Melbourne University Publishing. [https://books.google.com/books?id=3TvKQ9TkiroC&dq=night+watchman+state+Ferdinand+Lassalle&pg=PA87 p. 87] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230421162436/https://books.google.com/books?id=3TvKQ9TkiroC&dq=night+watchman+state+Ferdinand+Lassalle&pg=PA87 |date=April 21, 2023 }}. {{ISBN|978-0522850826}}.</ref> [[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".<ref>Von Mises, Ludwig (1927) [1922]. ''[[Liberalism (book)|Liberalism]]''. [https://books.google.com/books?id=TMkSpFYc_SEC&dq=night+watchman+state+Liberalism+mises&pg=PA37 p. 37] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230421162436/https://books.google.com/books?id=TMkSpFYc_SEC&dq=night+watchman+state+Liberalism+mises&pg=PA37 |date=April 21, 2023 }}.</ref>

Proponents of the night-watchman state are ''minarchists'', a portmanteau of ''minimum'' and ''-archy''. ''[[Arche]]'' ({{IPAc-en|ˈ|ɑr|k|i}}; {{langx|grc|[[:wikt:ἀρχή|ἀρχή]]}}) is a Greek word which came to mean "first place, power", "method of government", "empire, realm", "authorities" (in plural: {{lang|grc|ἀρχαί}}), or "command".<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.04.0057%3Aalphabetic+letter%3D*a%3Aentry+group%3D318%3Aentry%3Da%29rxh%2F|title=Ἀρχή|script-title=el: Archy|trans-title=Archy|work=[[A Greek-English Lexicon]]|access-date=January 2, 2020|archive-date=September 27, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200927220300/http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.04.0057%3Aalphabetic+letter%3D*a%3Aentry+group%3D318%3Aentry%3Da%29rxh%2F|url-status=live}}</ref> The term ''minarchist'' was coined by [[Samuel Edward Konkin III]] in 1980.<ref>Konkin III, Samuel Edward (1980). ''[[New Libertarian Manifesto]]''. p. 9.</ref>

== Philosophy ==
{{Missing information|section|the minarchic objections of the [[polycentric law]] (such as the non-recognition of legal orders among different providers) and the concept of the "ultra-minimal state." Additionally, the distinction between pro-voluntary funding minarchists, such as [[Ayn Rand]] and [[Robert Nozick]], and pro-tax minarchists is not explicitly illustrated|date=August 2024}}
[[Right-libertarian]] minarchists generally justify the state as a logical consequence of the [[non-aggression principle]].<ref name="Gregory"/><ref name="Peikoff"/><ref name="Peikoff Part 1"/> 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.<ref>{{cite book|title=Anarchism/Minarchism: Is a Government Part of a Free Country?|url=http://www.calstatela.edu/faculty/areed2/LongXXXMachan.pdf|publisher=Ashgate Publishing|year=2008|editor-last1=Long|editor-first1=Roderick T.|editor-last2=Machan|editor-first2=Tibor R.|isbn=978-0754660668|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111130195736/http://www.calstatela.edu/faculty/areed2/LongXXXMachan.pdf|archive-date=November 30, 2011}}</ref> Another common objection to anarchism is that private defense and court firms would tend to represent the interests of those who pay them enough.<ref>{{cite journal|last=Holcombe|first=Randall G.|url=https://www.independent.org/pdf/tir/tir_08_3_1_holcombe.pdf|title=Government: Unnecessary but Inevitable|journal=The Independent Review|date=2004|accessdate=January 2, 2020|archive-date=August 29, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190829143321/http://www.independent.org/pdf/tir/tir_08_3_1_holcombe.pdf|url-status=live}}</ref>

[[Left-libertarian]] minarchists justify the state as a temporary measure on the grounds that [[social safety net]] benefits 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.<ref name="Chomsky">{{cite web|url=http://www.zmag.org/chomsky_repliesana.htm|title=Chomsky Replies to Multiple Questions About Anarchism|website=Z Magazine|publisher=ZCommunications|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070929074956/https://www.zmag.org/chomsky_repliesana.htm|archive-date=September 29, 2007|access-date=August 19, 2011|quote=Anarchists propose other measures to deal with these problems, without recourse to state authority. ... Social democrats and anarchists always agreed, fairly generally, on so-called 'welfare state measures'.}}</ref> Left-libertarians such as [[Peter Hain]] are [[decentralist]]s who do not advocate abolishing the state,<ref name="Hain 2000"/> but do wish to limit and devolve state power,<ref name="Marshall 2009"/> stipulating that any measures favoring the wealthy be prioritized for repeal before those which benefit the poor.<ref name="Richman 2011">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|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190610075037/https://www.theamericanconservative.com/articles/libertarian-left/|date=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."</ref>

Some minarchists argue that a state is inevitable because anarchy is futile.<ref>{{cite book|title=Frank H. Knight in Iowa City, 1919–1928|last=Emmett|first=Ross B.|year= 2011|publisher=Emerald Group Publishing|isbn=978-1780520087}}</ref> [[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 and group rights|individual rights]] and therefore morally justifies the existence of a state.<ref name="Nozick 1974"/><ref>{{cite encyclopedia|year=2008|encyclopedia=The Encyclopedia of Libertarianism|publisher=[[SAGE Publishing|Sage]]; [[Cato Institute]]|location=Thousand Oaks, CA|url=https://sk.sagepub.com/reference/libertarianism/n204.xml|last=Gordon|first=David|author-link=David Gordon (economist)|editor-last=Hamowy|editor-first=Ronald|editor-link=Ronald Hamowy|pages=332–334|doi=10.4135/9781412965811.n204|isbn=978-1412965804|lccn=2008009151|oclc=750831024|title=Minimal State|access-date=February 24, 2022|archive-date=December 3, 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231203073342/https://sk.sagepub.com/Reference/libertarianism/n204.xml|url-status=live|url-access=subscription}}</ref>

== See also ==
{{Portal|Libertarianism}}
{{cols|colwidth=20em}}
* [[Anarchism and anarcho-capitalism]]
* [[Anarcho-capitalism and minarchism]]
* [[Big government]]
* [[Classical liberalism]]
* [[Constitutional liberalism]]
* [[Debates within libertarianism]]
* [[Objectivist movement]]
* [[Objectivism and libertarianism]]
* [[Property is theft!]]
* [[Small government]]
* [[Taxation as theft]]
* [[Voluntaryism]]
* [[Watchman (law enforcement)]]
{{colend}}

== References ==
=== Notes ===
{{reflist}}

=== 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.
* [[Marius Ostrowski|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.

== External links ==
* [http://praxeology.net/Anarconst2.pdf "Market Anarchism as Constitutionalism"] by Roderick T. Long
* [https://cdn.mises.org/Chaos%20Theory_2.pdf "Chaos Theory: Two Essays on Market Anarchy"] by Robert P. Murphy
* [https://mises.org/journals/jls/1_1/1_1_6.pdf ''Robert Nozick and the Immaculate Conception of the State''] by Murray Rothbard

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[[Category:Ferdinand Lassalle]]
[[Category:Libertarian terms]]
[[Category:Libertarian theory]]
[[Category:Libertarianism|Minarchism]]
[[Category:Libertarianism in the United States]]
[[Category:Minarchism]]
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