The fifth annual Republican Liberty Index is in and -- surprise! -- Republicans have shown again that they tend toward the libertarian position on both economic and social issues relative to Democrats. The idea that libertarianism is "off" the political spectrum, being a combination of liberal and conservative views, is increasingly obsolete. Our agenda is very much a part of the emerging consensus of the political right in our country.
     This emerging consensus features a renewed commitment to traditional Republican values, such as reliance on the free market, on family, church and other forms of voluntary association, and on local government, as opposed to reliance on central government, both because of concerns for individual virtue as well as economic efficiency. However, as we have pointed out before, this emerging consensus is not as well defined in the area of civil liberties as it is in the area of economics.
     Based on forty key votes, twenty in each of the two categories, the average Republican score in the Senate was 65 (out of 100) in the category of economics (37 for the Democrats), and 63 in the category of personal liberties (34 for the Democrats). In the House of Representatives, the average Republican score was 78 in the category of economics (25 for the Democrats), and 64 in the category of personal liberties (38 for the Democrats).

Rollcall Votes
     Key votes in the category of economics covered spending, taxes, the deficit, labor policy, industrial policy, trade policy, and environmental policy. Among these were family leave and striker replacement legislation, approval of NAFTA, funding of the super collider and the space station, the administration's budget proposal and stimulus package, and the Penny-Kasich spending cuts.
     Key votes in the category of civil liberties covered abortion, homosexuality, drugs, choice in education, gun control, the draft, foreign policy, immigration, and government funding and regulation of speech including the arts, broadcasting, and political campaigns. Specific votes included the Brady Bill, lifting of the "gag rule" that had prohibited clinics receiving federal funds from discussing abortion, prohibiting the funding of the U.N. Population Fund unless the President certifies that the People's Republic of China no longer compels abortion, confirmation of Roberta Achtenberg as an assistant secretary of HUD, and to authorize the previous deployment of U.S. troops to Somalia under the War Powers Act.

Rating Leaders
     The #1 U.S. Senator was Don Nickles of Oklahoma, who edged out Judd Gregg and Robert Smith, both of New Hampshire, the latter of which had placed #1 each of the prior two years. Dana Rohrabacker of California was joined by Phil Crane of Illinois and Robert Walker of Pennsylvania in a three-way tie for first among members of the lower house. Congressman Rohrabacker had placed first each of the prior two years.
     This year there were no perfect scores, but several members came close in the category of economics: Congressmen Crane, Rohrabacker and Walker, as well as Congressman Linder of Georgia, each had but one bad vote in the category of economics, that vote being against terminating the space station. Also close to perfect were Congressmen Allard of Colorado and Manzullo of Illinois, who voted against cutting the budget of the Rural Electrification Administration, Congressman Paxson of New York, who voted to extend unemployment benefits, Congressman Nussle of Iowa, who voted against cutting the subsidy to AMTRAK, and Congressman Knollenberg of Michigan, who didn't participate in the vote to extend the deadline for fast-track approval of GATT. As it was never our intention to create a "litmus test," the somewhat random deviation of these near misses is actually reassuring.

Liberty Categories
     As before, scores were more problematic in the category of civil liberties. The highest individual scores were achieved by Congressmen Hoke of Ohio and Skeen of New Mexico, each of whom scored 80. Congressman Hoke had four bad votes and one no vote, and Congressman Skeen three bad votes and three no votes. Close behind with 78's were our three overall co-winners and seven others. The issues on which both Congressman Hoke and Skeen voted wrong or didn't vote illustrate some of the problem areas within the category of civil liberties for libertarians in the Republican Party: one involved a ban of the District of Columbia's "domestic partners" ordinance, and the other an increase in the budget for the border patrol.
     On average, Republicans score better than Democrats in the category of civil liberties. But, this is not the result of Republicans embracing a systematic libertarian approach to civil liberties, but the result of a few shifts of position on particular issues. Republicans continue to defend traditionally Republican civil liberties, such as freedom of religion and the right to keep and bear arms. In addition, Republicans today defend, and Democrats today attack certain traditionally Democratic civil liberties, such as equal rights. These are the shifts that have taken place. This doesn't mean that Republicans have, as a political party, converted into libertarians, but we can hope and work for continued change.
     While there were no 100's in this year's index, there were three zero's (all in the category of economics): Congressmen Bonior of Michigan, Green of Texas, and Hilliard of Alabama. Needless to say, all three zero's are Democrats.

Party Comparisons
     How much difference is there, really, in the voting records of Republicans and Democrats? On the basis of the data we have compiled over the years, some libertarian purists have begrudgingly admitted to a difference, but have argued that it's only a small difference. As one has put it, only there's only "a dime's worth of difference."
     It's difficult to summarize into one number the differences between Republicans and Democrats. Republicans are clearly superior to Democrats on economic issues, and are marginally better on social issues. But, as we have repeatedly pointed out, Republicans aren't better than Democrats in all sub-categories within the category of civil liberties.
     Furthermore, Republicans can be said to simply reflect the more libertarian orientation of their constituencies. Senators Judd Gregg and Robert Smith, from New Hampshire, are naturally going to be more libertarian because the people of New Hampshire are more libertarian. (You gotta love New Hampshire's state motto: "live free or die.")
     In order to estimate how much of a difference electing a Republican means, we compared the voting records of the twenty pairs of Senators from states with one Republican and one Democratic Senator. The average difference was 26. (For comparison, the average difference between all Republican and all Democratic Senators was 31.) At the low end, Vermont, the Republican had only a 3 point advantage, and at the high end, Florida and South Dakota, the Republican had a 43 and a 44 point advantage.
     Taken literally, "a dime's worth of difference" means a 10 percentage point differential. The facts indicate that, even considering differences in constituency, there's a quarter's worth, not a dime's worth of difference. Obviously, we in the Republican Liberty Caucus believe this is a significant difference. 

Clifford F. Thies e-mail

Past Chairman, Republican Liberty Caucus
Professor of Economics and Finance
  at Shenandoah University