Description

This article is from the Anarchy FAQ, by Bryan Caplan with numerous contributions by others.

What is anarchism? What beliefs do anarchists share?

Anarchism is defined by The American Heritage College Dictionary as "The theory or doctrine that all forms of government are unnecessary, oppressive, and undesirable and should be abolished." Anarchism is a negative; it holds that one thing, namely government, is bad and should be abolished. Aside from this defining tenet, it would be difficult to list any belief that all anarchists hold. Just as atheists might support or oppose any viewpoint consistent with the non-existence of God, anarchists might and indeed do hold the entire range of viewpoints consistent with the non-existence of the state.


As might be expected, different groups of anarchists are constantly trying to define anarchists with different views out of existence, just as many Christians say that their sect is the only "true" Christianity and many socialists say that their socialism is the only "true" socialism. This FAQ takes what seems to me to be the impartial view that such tactics are pointless and merely prevent the debate of substantive issues. (N.B. The preceding definition has been criticized a number of times. To view my appendix on Defining Anarchism, click here).