Abstract

This article examines the role, scale, and ideological impact of explicitly libertarian political parties across five national contexts: the United States, Germany, Poland, Brazil, and Argentina. Even though libertarian parties remain electorally marginal in most countries, their contributions and ‘added value’ extends beyond vote shares or legislative representation. Through a comparative and multi-dimensional approach founded in both quantitative and qualitative analysis, the article analyses structural constraints, cultural narratives, electoral performances, media representations, and internal strategic tensions faced by these parties. The findings suggest that libertarian parties often operate more as ideological disruptors than as conventional electoral actors – shaping debates on taxation, state power, decentralisation, and personal autonomy, even when they fail to secure office. The paper argues that their influence lies less in institutional control and more in agenda-setting and discursive presence.

Keywords

  • libertarianism
  • anarcho-capitalism
  • politics
  • democracy
  • freedom
  • political parties
  • electoral performance
  • ideological purity
  • party systems
  • comparative politics

About the author

Šimon Pavera

Prague University of Economics and Business, Czech Republic

https://orcid.org/0009-0003-9456-2206

Šimon Pavera, born in Prague, has been immersed in humanistic disciplines since childhood, cultivating a deep appreciation for foreign languages, theatre, film, and modern digital media. His intellectual curiosity spans both traditional and contemporary cultural forms, shaping a well-rounded perspective from an early age. At the heart of his academic and personal pursuits lies a strong passion for economics and the principles of the free market, which he has explored through historical and modern case studies. This focus has been reflected in his high school projects and further develops during his early college years.

How to cite

PAVERA, Šimon. A Comparative Study of Libertarianism’s Scale and Impact in Contemporary Democracies. Global Insights & Research Network [online]. 2025, vol. 1, no. 1, pp. 55–112. ISSN 3029-8318. Available from: https://girn.uk/1-2025/libertarianism-scale-impact-contemporary-democracies/

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Licence and copyright

Copyright © 2025 Šimon Pavera. This article is open access, published under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International licence (CC BY 4.0).

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