Every political movement is a coalition of coalitions - even ours.

With the announcement at the beginning of the year of the birth of the Libertarian Skeptics Network, the number of caucuses organized around influencing the Libertarian Party continues to grow. This is good - the more groups of people choosing to work together to grow the Libertarian Party, the better, and the Libertarian Party of Nevada is proud to have two of its members - Andrew Lea, the Youth Director of the Libertarian Party of Nevada, and Jason Weinman, our Outreach Director - serving on its board. 

The Libertarian Skeptics Network is continuing in a tradition as old as the Libertarian Party itself. From the very beginning, the Libertarian Party consisted of several caucuses, including the Association of Libertarian Feminists and the LP Radical Caucus, both of which are still around in one form or another. There are other caucuses that have been created to help guide the Libertarian Party since its founding in 1971 - Outright Libertarians, for example, focuses on LGBTQ rights and messaging, while the Libertarian Party Rothbard Caucus advocates for the advancement of Murray Rothbard's ideas within the Libertarian Party. There's also the Youth Caucus, the GeoLibertarian LP Caucus, which advocates the advancement of Geolibertarianism, the Libertarian Defense Caucus, the Libertarian Party Anarchist Caucus, Grassroots Libertarians, and - until it considered its work done - the LP Reform Caucus. The LP Reform Caucus isn't the only one to call it a day - the LP Abolitionist Caucus has also come and gone. There are undoubtedly other caucuses and groups seeking to influence the LP and politics at large - the Libertarian Party of Nevada, for example, works closely with several caucuses and coalitions as well. 

What do each of these caucuses have in common? They all have a love and respect for liberty and want to grow the Libertarian Party. Each coalition might have specific issues they want to focus on that they would like to see the LP bring greater attention to; some coalitions may even agree on some of the issues that require focus. As each coalition grows and shrinks, their ability to shape and guide the Libertarian Party ebbs and flows, their influence reflecting the resonance of their issues among current and future members of our party. These caucuses are healthy - they help us see our party's issues developed and expressed in new ways and help us advance the cause of liberty more effectively.

If there are issues that you're passionate about, why not join one of the Libertarian Party of Nevada's caucuses and coalitions, look around for another caucus online to join, or create one yourself with like minded members? Either way, the first step is to join the Libertarian Party of Nevada now!

Howard Stern Libertarian Party by Ted Van Pelt is licensed CC BY-SA 2.0.