Home › Ideologies › Minarchism
Minarchism
The Night Watchman
«The state is a night watchman, and nothing more.»
The state should only be a night watchman: police, courts and defense. Everything else is up to individuals and the market.
In short
On the traditional scale, this ideology sits in the libertarian right camp. The clearest positions are on economy: strongly towards “market”; state: strongly towards “liberty”; devolution: fairly towards “federalism”; environment: fairly towards “growth”. On society, foreign policy and democracy it stays balanced. Among the other ideologies, the closest is classical liberalism (96%).
Principles
- Minimal state
- Property rights
- Personal responsibility
A state reduced to police, courts and defense.
Common criticisms
Where it comes from
The name comes from the "night watchman" state of 19th-century liberals; Robert Nozick laid out the theory in "Anarchy, State, and Utopia" (1974).
Key figures: Robert Nozick, Friedrich von Hayek
Further reading: Anarchy, State, and Utopia — Robert Nozick; The Law — Frédéric Bastiat
Position on the 13 axes
Similar ideologies
Classical liberalismThe Rule Keeper96%LibertarianismThe Free Spirit90%NeoliberalismThe Globalizer86%Closest parties in Europe
Freie Demokratische ParteiGermany90%
Liberal AllianceDenmark89%
Iniciativa LiberalPortugal89%
Sloboda a SolidaritaSlovakia88%Closest figures
Positions are estimates based on documented ideas, platforms and actions, updated to October 2026.