In late May of 2008, the Libertarian Party will hold its biennial national convention. In presidential election years, the highlight of that convention is the nomination of the party's presidential slate. However, the convention will deal with many other matters as well -- among them, the periodic process of considering amendments to its bylaws and platform.

In 2006, the LP's platform changed dramatically. A number of its planks were deleted; others were modified. Much of this took place against a background of conflict between two factions upon which the labels "reformer" and "radical" (or, less accurately, "pragmatist" and "purist") have settled.

The resulting platform seems to have left most of those concerned with it unhappy: The "radicals," because many measures they considered important were deleted and others modified in a "reformer" direction; the "reformers" because the job they set out to do remains unfinished.

I initially proposed the World's Smallest Political Platform for adoption by the LP shortly before the 2006 convention, and formed a (sort of) political party using the WSPP as its platform shortly after.

If you try to find the Boston Tea Party right now, you'll see that its URL is parked. Its web site got eaten up with comment-spamming and I had to take it down; revitalization efforts are under weigh to get the organization functional again in time for its own 2008 convention.

In any case, I am once again proposing adoption of the WSPP by the Libertarian Party, and for much the same reason as before:

We fight about our platform every two years, and so far we've ended up with one of two things: A bloated laundry list that nobody not obsessed with such things would ever think of wading through; or a neutered dog chasing its own tail (by which I mean, a platform with its balls missing and offering self-contradictory prescriptions).

The WSPP is simple. It's one sentence long. It draws a bright general line (LESS GOVERNMENT) in unmodifiable perpetuity, while leaving the drawing of policy lines on particular issues to a separate, presumably periodic, program process. It provides those who are new to, or investigating, the LP with a simple, clear-cut statement of what the party stands for. It accomodates incrementalism (a shibboleth of the "reformers") as well as abolitionism (a shibboleth of the "radicals").

The above paragraph is the nutshell case for adoption of the WSPP by the Libertarian Party.

There are, of course, competing proposals. Here are a few of those proposals and/or links to places from which such proposals are likely to emerge:

• The Restoration Caucus advocates restoration of the 2004 platform in its entirety.
  
  
• The Libertarian Party's platform committee has been rather close-mouthed about its internal deliberations. However, committee member Brian Holtz is acting as a public advocate for something he calls the Greatest Hits Draft Platform, which draws on past platform language.
  
  
• The Libertarian Reform Caucus provided much of the fuel for the 2006 fire, and will likely bring new proposals to the table at the 2008 convention.
  
  
• The Libertarian Party Radical Caucus has not adopted a specific position on the 2008 platform, but its members are likely to be active in supporting one or more proposals.

What you can do

If you're a member of the Libertarian Party, the platform represents you. Making it represent you accurately and well is your job. Get involved!

If you support adoption of the WSPP by the Libertarian Party, say so publicly and discuss how to make it happen with others of like mind.