# Theocracy A form of government in which religious authority is the source of political authority, sacred law is the supreme law of the state, and clerics or religious institutions exercise (or directly control) political power. Etymology: Greek *theokratia*, "rule by god" — though in practice it's rule by those claiming to interpret god's will. ## Defining features 1. **Sacred law as state law** — religious texts and authoritative interpretations are constitutionally or substantively supreme 2. **Religious institutions hold or oversee political power** — directly (clerical rule) or via veto/oversight bodies (e.g., Iran's Guardian Council) 3. **Religious affiliation as the basis of citizenship** or differential rights 4. **Limited or absent separation of religion and state** ## Variants - **Pure / clerical theocracy** — religious officials *are* the government. Vatican City (Pope as absolute monarch + religious leader). Tibet under the Dalai Lama (historically). - **Theocratic republic** (hybrid) — formal republican structure with theocratic supremacy. **Iran** since 1979 is the paradigmatic case: elected president and parliament operate under the supervision of a Supreme Leader and Guardian Council that ensure compliance with Islamic law. - **Constitutional theocracy** — sacred law is supreme, often via constitutional incorporation of religious courts ([[Saudi Arabia]] operates with sharia as fundamental law alongside monarchical authority; Pakistan has a Federal Shariat Court) - **Theocratic monarchy** — monarch rules by divine sanction or doubles as religious head. Saudi Arabia (Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques), historical caliphates. ## Historical and contemporary cases - **Vatican City** (1929–) — current; absolute elective monarchy + theocracy - **Iran** (1979–) — Islamic Republic - **Saudi Arabia** — theocratic absolute monarchy with sharia as supreme law - **Afghanistan** under the Taliban (1996-2001, 2021–) — Islamic Emirate - **Geneva under Calvin** (1541-1564) — Protestant theocratic city-state - **[[Massachusetts Bay Colony]]** (1630-1684) — Puritan theocratic republic in early American history - **Historical Islamic caliphates** (Rashidun, Umayyad, Abbasid, Ottoman, etc.) - **Tibet** before 1959 — Buddhist theocratic monarchy under the Dalai Lama ## Distinguishing from religious-influenced states Many states have *substantial* religious influence on law and politics without being theocracies: - **Established churches** without theocratic supremacy — UK (Anglican), Denmark (Lutheran), Greece (Orthodox) all have official churches but operate as constitutional monarchies/republics - **Religious-conservative democracies** — Israel (state with Jewish-religious dimensions but not formally a theocracy), India (constitutionally secular but with rising Hindu nationalism) - **Religiously-shaped legal systems** without theocratic governance — many Muslim-majority states have personal-status laws drawn from Islamic jurisprudence within otherwise secular constitutional frameworks The line is whether religious authority *supersedes* civil/constitutional authority on contested questions. In a theocracy it does; in a religiously-influenced democracy it doesn't. ## Right-wing relevance — Christian Nationalism and theocratic projects The American religious right's most ambitious projects move toward theocratic rather than merely religiously-influenced governance. Cross-references in this vault: - [[Christian Nationalism]] (ideology) — fusion of national and religious identity, with policy-making informed by religious authority - [[Dominionism]] — theological framework for Christian rule over civil institutions - [[Theonomy]] ([[Christian Reconstructionism]]) — most explicitly theocratic strand; advocates Old Testament law as basis of civil law - [[Seven Mountain Mandate]] — strategy for Christian capture of seven cultural domains, including government - [[New Apostolic Reformation]] — apostolic-prophetic movement carrying theocratic theology into mass politics - [[Apostolic-Prophetic Movement]] — broader umbrella These movements differ in how explicitly they call for theocracy. Reconstructionism is openly theocratic; Christian Nationalism varies from soft (privileged-but-not-supreme religious framing) to hard (religious supremacy). The political infrastructure is significant: see /Organizations/ entries [[Family Research Council]], [[Faith and Freedom Coalition]], [[Generals International]], [[Global Spheres Inc]], [[ReAwaken America Tour]]. ## Distinguishing from neighbors - vs. **[[Monarchy]]** — significant overlap (Vatican is both); also a category distinction. Monarchy is about head-of-state form; theocracy is about source of legitimate authority. - vs. **[[Authoritarianism (Government Type)]]** — most theocracies are also authoritarian, but the regime is classified theocratic by its source of legitimacy, not its level of repression. - vs. **[[Totalitarianism]]** — some theocracies have totalitarian features (Khmer Rouge had a quasi-religious utopianism; Iran has elements). Not all theocracies are totalitarian. ## See also - [[Christian Nationalism]], [[Dominionism]], [[Theonomy]] — US right-wing theocratic projects - [[Monarchy]] — Vatican overlap; historical caliphates - [[Authoritarianism (Government Type)]] (regime type) — most theocracies are also authoritarian