In 1975, Muammar Gaddafi published The Green Book, a slim volume that became the ideological foundation of Libya's political system.
It was presented as an alternative to both Western capitalism and Soviet communism.
It was a "Third Universal Theory"
Gaddafi argued that representative democracy was a fraud. According to The Green Book, parliaments, political parties, and elections merely transferred power from the people to elites. He famously claimed: "Representation is fraud." In his view, citizens should govern directly.
His proposed solution was a system of Basic People's Congresses and People's Committees, where ordinary citizens would supposedly make decisions without intermediaries.
Libya officially called itself the Jamahiriya, which translates to "the state of the masses."
The book fiercely attacks political parties, describing them as instruments of dictatorship because they allow a minority to rule in the name of the majority. Gaddafi believed parties inevitably divide society and create permanent political classes.
On economics, Gaddafi rejected both wage labor and private monopolies. He argued that workers should collectively own and manage the enterprises in which they work.
The Green Book also rejected landlordism. Gaddafi insisted that "the house belongs to the one who lives in it," arguing that owning property merely to rent it out allowed one person to exploit another's need for shelter.
On agriculture, he declared: "Land belongs to no one." Individuals had the right to use land and benefit from it, but not to monopolize or speculate on it. The book envisioned a society where productive resources were held and used collectively.
Beyond politics and economics, The Green Book ventured into social theory. It discussed family, education, women, sports, and culture.
Gaddafi defended traditional family structures while also arguing that women should participate fully in public life, though often within roles he saw as "natural."
Education, according to Gaddafi, should not be imposed from above. He criticized standardized schooling and argued that forcing a curriculum on students was a form of dictatorship. He also opposed the commercialization of knowledge and culture.
The text was translated into dozens of languages and distributed widely across Libya, Africa, and the Global South.