Theocracy

A form of government that claims to be directed by God or gods and divinely blessed. The term theocracy was coined from the Greek term theokratia in the 1st century by Flavius Josephus, a Jewish historian whose intent was to educate the Gentiles on the political system of the Jewish state. This system was in contrast to the monarchies, oligarchies, and republics existing in non-Jewish states.

Theocracy literally means “rule of God” or “rule by God.” A theocracy is a state ruled by religious law. The leadership in a theocracy often comprises members of the clergy. Several forms of theocratic rule exist. The purest theocratic form is the hierocracy, in which the political sphere is dominated or replaced by religious institutions. In a hierocracy, society is ruled by a clergy or by priests who are believed to have a direct personal connection to God. It is sometimes called priestly rule. Few hierocracies have existed throughout history. Some hierocracies existed during the early years of Islam under Mohammed and the first caliphs, in Tibet from the 13th through the mid-20th centuries, among the early Mormons under Joseph Smith and Brigham Young in the 19th century, in Iran during the 1980s, in the Vatican under papal rule, and during the Taliban dominance of Afghanistan from 1996 through 2001.

Most theocracies, however, recognize that an ultimate authority may be vested in divine law but government is mediated through secularized political institutions. For example, the Egyptian kings were expected to rule according to the principles of justice, while the Roman emperors, who followed Eastern Orthodox Christianity, believed in ruling according to the revelation of truth. And for the Christian Calvinists of the 16th and 17th centuries, the clergy only had an advisory role in checking civil government.

In Western countries, the Age of Enlightenment in the 18th century marked the end of most theocracies. The end came as a result of the heavy beating that Europe endured from the religious wars in the 16th and 17th centuries. As a result, knowledge became domi nated by rational inquiry as a defense against the superstitions and intolerances of religion. Today, secularization has further rendered a sharp dichotomy between the tenets of the church and the rules of the state in many Christian-dominated governments.

Even in the Islamic world, a Gallup poll taken in 2008 indicated that Muslims prefer a government that incorporates the Shari'a, or laws from the Koran, as a source of law. However, the government they prefer is a democratic one that resembles, rather than wholly adopts, the Westernized model. Interestingly, in 2006, another Gallup poll found that a majority of Americans wanted the Bible as either a source or the only source of legislation in the United States. For more information, see Gallup (2008).