Atlas / Comparisons / Minarchist Libertarianism vs Nordic Social Democracy

Minarchist Libertarianism and Nordic Social Democracy

Q: Are Minarchist Libertarianism and Nordic Social Democracy the same thing?

Measured across six independent axes they are 18.5 apart out of a possible 49.0, which is different families with real common ground. They agree within three points on CU, AU, ID. They diverge by eight points or more on EC, SC.

Measured distance across six axes

18.5 / 49.0 possible

Different families with real common ground. They agree within three points on CU, AU, ID. They diverge by eight points or more on EC, SC.

Axis by axis

Axis	Nozick, LP	Folkhemmet	Gap		Reading
EC · Economic organisation	+10	−05	15	Diverges	Carries the disagreement. Any claim that these two are alike has to explain this.
CU · Social and cultural order	−03	−06	3	Agrees	Effectively the same position. Not what an argument between them is about.
AU · Organisation of power	−08	−06	2	Agrees	Effectively the same position. Not what an argument between them is about.
SC · Scale of decision	−07	+02	9	Diverges	Carries the disagreement. Any claim that these two are alike has to explain this.
ID · Rule of membership	−04	−04	0	Agrees	Effectively the same position. Not what an argument between them is about.
CH · Method and tempo	−03	−08	5	Differs	Real difference, but not the dividing line.

Each axis runs from −10 to +10; the distance is the straight-line separation across all six at once, out of a maximum of 49.0. How the scoring works →

The evidence behind the widest gaps

A distance figure is worth nothing unless the scores behind it can be checked. These are the artefacts supporting the axes that separate these two most.

Nozick, LP · EC +10

At the market pole: police, courts and defence only.

Programme textNozick's Anarchy, State, and Utopia (1974) derives a night-watchman state and no more.

Folkhemmet · EC −05

Very high redistribution inside a very open market economy. The transfer level pulls left, the ownership and trade regime pulls right.

Documented act or statuteSweden has no wealth tax since 2007 and no inheritance tax since 2004.
Documented act or statutePublicly funded school vouchers admit for-profit private providers.

2 more artefacts on the full entry →

Nozick, LP · SC −07

Coded −7: strong federalism and secession sympathies.

Programme textPlatform commitments to devolve nearly all federal functions to states or individuals.

Folkhemmet · SC +02

Coded mildly central: strong unitary welfare standards delivered through very strong municipalities.

Documented act or statuteMunicipalities levy their own income tax and deliver most health, care and schooling.

What this comparison does not establish

Proximity means similarity of stated position. It carries no claim about competence, circumstance, scale of operation, or what either organisation actually did to the people under it. Two organisations can sit close together and produce entirely different histories, because those things are not on any axis and could not be.

Minarchist Libertarianism

1971– · United States, worldwide

A night-watchman state limited to police, courts and defence; maximum personal and economic freedom otherwise.

Nordic Social Democracy

1932– · Sweden, Norway, Denmark

Universal welfare, full employment and centralised wage bargaining, inside a market economy and a liberal constitution.

Distance is not the whole answer. Two organisations can sit the same distance apart for entirely different reasons, and the reason is the content of any claim about them. Open the comparison in the atlas to weight the axes yourself.

Open in the atlas