Gauging the clout of libertarian politics in the United States depends a great deal on whether you capitalize the letter "L."

There are "Big-L" Libertarians-those registered with the Libertarian Party and represented by Gary Johnson in the 2012 election. The former New Mexico governor secured 1,275,950 votes, or nearly 1 percent of the national vote, a statistically insignificant figure but a record for Libertarian candidates nonetheless. Numbers at state levels are relatively small, too. Take California, for instance: According to Feb. 10 data from the secretary of state's office, 109,636 voters-or 0.63 percent-are registered with the party.

Then there are the "little-L" libertarians-those who aren't necessarily registered but tend to adopt libertarian-tinged philosophies and talking points. Their numbers grow depending on how wide you cast the net. The Cato Institute, a conservative think tank, illustrated that idea in 2010: The more liberally you define libertarianism, the more people you can count. To wit: Fifty-nine percent of respondents to a Cato-commissioned poll dubbed themselves "fiscally conservative and socially liberal;" forty-four percent said they were "fiscally conservative and socially liberal, also known as libertarian." That's a huge numerical difference from registration figures.

Anecdotally, fervor has risen for both libertarian and Libertarian candidates, especially among younger voters. Consider the passion for Johnson and Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., who won a straw poll at the Conservative Political Action Conference in March, and for his father, Ron Paul, in the 2012 primaries.

To glimpse into how small-government principles have drawn those young voters, Yahoo News asked libertarian-minded Americans to share their stories. Here are excerpts from first-person accounts they wrote this week.

Libertarian thought a source of optimism

Piyali Bhattacharya with Ron PaulIn high school, Piyali Bhattacharya had a bleeding heart-she says she was a "very proud and outspoken liberal"-and questioned U.S. involvement in wars and believed in free health care and education for all. She re-evaluated those political leanings in college when she found "Google Ron Paul" scribbled in chalk on a sidewalk. Now 24, she works for Young Americans for Liberty, a nonprofit organization in Washington D.C.

In her words:

Less than ten minutes of research confirmed that I had found a candidate whose stances resonated with my own on nearly every issue. But more importantly, this man had been consistent for years about the importance of civil liberties, of a limited, constitutional government, of free market Austrian economics-and just how far politics and policy in America had strayed from those tenets," she writes.

War is still unpleasant when we are engaged in unconstitutional, unsustainable, and costly foreign intervention. I still believe in the rights of women and homosexuals-not because they belong to those groups, but because they are individuals and should be treated as such. And my bleeding heart hasn't hardened, but a deeper understanding of free market economics had led to the knowledge that limiting government and encouraging private charity are the best way to help those in need.

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Young 'Little-L' Libertarians Choose Principle Over Power

Editor's note: Yahoo News asked young libertarian-minded voters to share why they're drawn to the either the Libertarian Party or to libertarian political principles in general. Here's one first-person account we received this week.

Imagine a man almost $57,000 in debt. You walk up to this man an ask him what his plan to get out of debt is. He stands there for a minute, shrugs his shoulders, sticks his hands in his pockets, and says he's going to cut his $4,300 yearly deficit some in order to reduce the problem. That's right: he's going to slow down (slightly) the rate at which he descends deeper into debt!

Now multiply this man by 300 million, and you have a nearly $17 trillion debt with a $1.3 trillion deficit. Sound familiar? This is where the United States currently stands (information publicly available) as of 2013. (2011 deficit data and March 30 debt data).

When I did this math for myself at North Georgia College ad State University in Dahlonega, I became a firm fiscal conservative. As I plunged into early adulthood, I realized that my status as a debt-free citizen helped me to avoid the financial pitfalls of my parents and many of the previous generation. I believed that the government should be equally frugal with its monetary policy, and this placed me firmly in the libertarian camp. I've identified as libertarian for approximately eight years.

Libertarians don't espouse a large-party platform, nor do they have a coherent, party-like ideology. The only central tenets are less government and more individual freedom. When I realized that my desire to see our government make itself debt-free would require vastly smaller spending and more individual responsibility, I realized that my views were libertarian ones.

The issue I have with the overly broad Republican and Democratic parties is that, in their attempt to win elections, they attempt to satisfy everyone by putting politicians into power that will expand all forms of spending including defense and social programs. This runs counter to my vision of a debt-free nation, which I believe is the correct path to prosperity.

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Libertarianism Is a Stance, Not a Political Party

Editors note: Yahoo News asked young libertarian-minded voters to share why theyre drawn to the either the Libertarian Party or to libertarian political principles in general. Heres one first-person account we received this week.

FIRST PERSON | For me, the interest in politics started in high school. I had a Political Science teacher who was a liberal Democrat, and directly across the hall was our Economics teacher, who wouldnt reveal his political convictions to students. In between classes, they would have friendly arguments back and forth while we walked by. Our teachers may not have realized it, but many students picked sidesand I later learned that the side I picked was libertarian.

My economics teacher let me borrow some books about the Austrian School of economics, which promotes free markets. As I read those books, something clicked. It often seemed like the books elaborated on ideas I'd already held. That was the inception of my passion for promoting free market economics.

I believe that liberty has proven to be the most effective way to improve quality of life for people of all economic classes. Today we hear so much about progress and moving forward, but the policies promoted by people using these slogans achieve the opposite effect. It is not progress to expand the size and scope of government. It is not progress to centralize power. The idea that a small, elite group of people can make more informed decisions than individuals about their lives is an ancient one, and it has been proven time and time again not to work.

By comparison, liberty is a young concept. It isn't a coincidence that in the past 300 years weve seen more progress (real progress equating to higher quality of life) than in all prior years combined. Yet, most politicians advocate more centralized control and less individual libertypolicies that are directly antithetical to the cause of the (relatively) recent enormous economic boom.

The simplicity of the free market system allows all individualsnot just the elitesto thrive. The most essential element to a free market system is the idea that you keep what you earn. Without this simple concept, economies wither and die. Unfortunately, government keeps getting bigger and bigger. Every expansion of government takes a little bit of liberty from individuals.

In 2007 a friend of mine told me that there was a guy running for president that he thought Id like. My response: I doubt it. That guy was Ron Paul, and he turned out to be just as committed to economic liberty as I am. Dr. Paul's candidacy further inspired me to do all I can to advance the principles of sound money, free markets, and individual liberty. I got involved with Young Americans for Liberty, which grew out of Paul's 2008 campaign, and I've been engaged in political activism ever since. YAL's training made me a more effective activist, leading to my work as a Field Director on Ron Paul's 2012 campaign.

I'm now 25, and Ive been focused on working within the political system to advance these ideals. I still believe that they resonate with everyday Americans. I think most people would agree that we should follow the Constitution. I think most people agree that they deserve to keep what theyve worked hard to earn. I think most people believe in taking personal responsibility for their defeats and enjoying their successes. And I think that consensus is what will ultimately put us on track to greater liberty and better lives.

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Early Adherence to Libertarian Ideas Leads to Political Activism

Editors note: Yahoo News asked young libertarian-minded voters to share why theyre drawn to the either the Libertarian Party or to libertarian political principles in general. Heres one first-person account we received this week.

FIRST PERSON | Not many people under the age of 35 can admit to reading the landmark copyright case Kelly v. Arriba (2003) for fun, but my path to libertarianism started with my questions about intellectual property as a photographer.

As a digital native coming of age in the late 90s, I grew up in an Internet culture that was freewheeling and unbounded in creativity. When I took up photography in 2005, this culture I was so accustomed to was suddenly in conflict with the culture of copyright restriction enjoyed by photographers.

Cognitive dissonance set in as I attempted to reconcile these two cultures I was straddling. I knew there was something wrong about copyrights, but I did not know what it was. As I researched this question, I ended up reading Stephan Kinsellas "Against Intellectual Property," which introduced me to the basic ideas underpinning libertarianism for the first time.

After that introduction to the ideas of liberty, it was unquestionably Ron Paul who who made me political. Id been against war since my combat deployment to Iraq, but Ron Pauls high profile candidacy gave voice to those views. As a fellow veteran, I felt that he made it acceptable for mea Marine and a 29-year-old Iraq War veteranto hold antiwar views.

Thanks to Ron Pauls impact on our national, political conversation, it is now permissible for me to not want my brothers and sisters in the armed forces to have to die for a lie. Its because of my experience in the militarynot because Im ignorant or nave about what war entailsthat I dont want my brothers and sisters in the armed forces to have their minds destroyed by mental trauma, their hearts broken by grief, and their consciences ravaged by guilt in their participation in a moral injustice.

The principles of libertarianism to which I was introduced when figuring out my views on intellectual property made perfect sense when applied to our foreign policy and interactions with other nations. The libertarian foreign policy isnt isolationism; its an understanding that if we are aggressive toward others, theyll respond with aggression toward us.

And this foreign policy based on peace and prosperity resonates deeply with my own convictions and experience in Iraq, in sharp contrast to the neoconservatism of the Republican Party during the Bush years (defined by the two costly and horrible wars, one of which is still raging to this day) and the macabre liberalism of the Democratic Party under Obama (epitomized by the Kill List, drone strikes, and military interventions in over 40 countries).

All in all, Ive had a something of a weird but good journey to the Liberty Movement: Questions about copyright made me libertarian, Ron Paul made me political, and opposition to aggressive war made me a radical.

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A Libertarian Foreign Policy Is Based on Peace

Editors note: Yahoo News asked young libertarian-minded voters to share why theyre drawn to the either the Libertarian Party or to libertarian political principles in general. Heres one first-person account we received this week.

FIRST PERSON | Eight years ago, I was a high school junior in Columbus, Ohio. I was 16 years old, and a very proud and outspoken liberal. A handful of hot political issues influenced my thinking: among them was the idea that war sounded unpleasant, women and homosexuals should be able to make their own decisions, and my bleeding heart loved the idea of providing free healthcare and education to one and all.

I really admired two of my teachers at the timeone taught English; a kind, eloquent Democratic who reminded me of Jon Stewart in both wit and mannerisms. The other, a lively and informed young Republican history teacher who was charming and persuasive. I found myself agreeing with each on different topics, which really confused mewas I a Democrat? A Republican? A little of both? And if it was the latter, what did that mean when it came time to support a political candidate?

I let those questions (along with my political interest) slide until the 2008 presidential election when I found myself in college, thinking about these issues once again, unsettled with my candidate options. Walking home from class one day, I saw a chalk scribbled Google Ron Paul on the sidewalk. And so I did.

Less than ten minutes of research confirmed that I had found a candidate whose stances resonated with my own on nearly every issue. But more importantly, this man had been consistent for years about the importance of civil liberties, of a limited, constitutional government, of free market Austrian economicsand just how far politics and policy in America had strayed from those tenets.

War is still unpleasant when we are engaged in unconstitutional, unsustainable, and costly foreign intervention. I still believe in the rights of women and homosexualsnot because they belong to those groups, but because they are individuals and should be treated as such. And my bleeding heart hasnt hardened, but a deeper understanding of free market economics had led to the knowledge that limiting government and encouraging private charity are the best way to help those in need. Im 24 years old now, and have recently moved to the Bay area from Washington DC. My passion for advancing the cause of liberty has led me to work for the largest pro-liberty student group in the country, a non-profit organization called Young Americans for Liberty, which came out of the original Students for Ron Paul group.

Weve come a long way since Ron Paul introduced these ideas to the mainstream, but we have a long way to go. Understanding that principles should matter over party affiliation, and that the fight is not between the left and right, but between the power of the state against the individual, is the key to furthering this cause. The growing libertarian wing of the Republican Party is exciting and inspiring and acts as a vehicle to bring these ideas to the mainstream media and to the public eye over time.

Examining alternatives to the often disheartening and unsatisfying solutions offered by the status quo Republicans and Democrats, libertarian thought is gaining more traction every day; for many, including myself, it is a source of hope and a reason to be optimistic for the survival and growth of our country.

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Libertarian Thought a Source of Optimism