Editing Cato Institute (section)

===Libertarianism and classical liberalism===
Many Cato scholars have advocated support for civil liberties, liberal immigration policies,<ref name="Immigration" /> drug liberalization,<ref name="WarOnDrugs" /> and the repeal of [[Don't Ask Don't Tell]] and laws restricting consensual sexual activity.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.cato.org/pub_display.php?pub_id=3053 |title=Government Shouldn't Police Morals – or Sexual Practices |last=Pilon |first=Roger |publisher=Cato Institute |access-date=November 20, 2010 |archive-date=January 4, 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110104075350/http://www.cato.org/pub_display.php?pub_id=3053 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name="DADT" /> The Cato Institute officially resists being labeled as part of the conservative movement because "'conservative' smacks of an unwillingness to change, of a desire to preserve the status quo".<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.cato.org/mission | title=Cato's Mission | website=Cato Institute | access-date=5 February 2020 | archive-date=December 22, 2017 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171222051948/https://www.cato.org/mission | url-status=live }}</ref>

Cato has strong ties to the political philosophy of [[classical liberalism]].<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.cato.org/policy-report/july/august-2013/new-intellectual-history-classical-liberalism | title=A New Intellectual History of Classical Liberalism | website=Cato Institute | access-date=12 March 2021 | archive-date=June 12, 2021 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210612044220/https://www.cato.org/policy-report/july/august-2013/new-intellectual-history-classical-liberalism | url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.cato.org/policy-report/march/april-2013/saving-soul-classical-liberalism | title=Saving the Soul of Classical Liberalism | website=Cato Institute | access-date=12 March 2021 | archive-date=June 12, 2021 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210612044224/https://www.cato.org/policy-report/march/april-2013/saving-soul-classical-liberalism | url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.cato.org/cato-university/home-study-course/module1 | title=Home Study Course | website=Cato Institute | access-date=12 March 2021 | archive-date=March 9, 2021 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210309201415/http://www.cato.org/cato-university/home-study-course/module1 | url-status=live }}</ref> According to executive vice president [[David Boaz]], libertarians are classical liberals who strongly emphasize the individual right to liberty. He argues that, as the term "liberalism" became increasingly associated with government intervention in the economy and social welfare programs, some classical liberals abandoned the old term and began to call themselves “[[libertarians]]”.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.britannica.com/topic/libertarianism-politics/Contemporary-libertarianism | title=Definition of Libertarianism | website=Encyclopedia Britannica | access-date=12 March 2021 | archive-date=March 5, 2021 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210305191921/https://www.britannica.com/topic/libertarianism-politics/Contemporary-libertarianism | url-status=live }}</ref> Officially, Cato admits that the term “classical liberal” comes close to the mark of labeling its position, but fails to capture the contemporary vibrancy of the ideas of freedom. According to Cato's mission statement, the Jeffersonian philosophy that animates Cato's work has increasingly come to be called 'libertarianism' or 'market liberalism.' It combines an appreciation for entrepreneurship, the market process, and lower taxes with strict respect for civil liberties and skepticism about the benefits of both the welfare state and foreign military adventurism.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.cato.org/mission | title=Cato's Mission | website=Cato Institute | access-date=12 March 2021 | archive-date=December 22, 2017 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171222051948/https://www.cato.org/mission | url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.cato.org/about.php |title=Cato on "How to Label Cato" |access-date=February 29, 2008 |work=The Cato Institute |publisher=Cato Institute |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070822132227/http://www.cato.org/about/about.html |archive-date=August 22, 2007 }}</ref>

In 2006, [[Markos Moulitsas]] of the [[Daily Kos]] proposed the term "[[Libertarian Democrat]]" to describe his particular liberal position, suggesting that libertarians should be allies of the Democratic Party. Replying, Cato's vice president for research [[Brink Lindsey]] agreed that libertarians and liberals should view each other as natural ideological allies,<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.cato.org/people/brink-lindsey | title=Brink Lindsey | website=Cato Institute | access-date=6 February 2020 | archive-date=February 6, 2020 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200206152432/https://www.cato.org/people/brink-lindsey | url-status=live }}</ref> and noted continuing differences between mainstream liberal views on economic policy and Cato's "[[Jeffersonian democracy|Jeffersonian philosophy]]".

Some Cato scholars disagree with conservatives on neo-conservative foreign policy, albeit that this has not always been uniform.<ref>{{cite web|last=Lindsey|first=Brink|title=Should We Invade Iraq?|url=http://reason.com/archives/2003/01/01/should-we-invade-iraq|work=Reason Magazine (January 2003)|publisher=Reason Magazine|access-date=July 5, 2012|date=January 2003|archive-date=April 7, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190407010559/http://reason.com/archives/2003/01/01/should-we-invade-iraq|url-status=live}}</ref>{{Failed verification|date=July 2020}}