Theocracy

Secularization, Democracy, Plutocracy, Oligarchy, Monarchy, Constitutional Monarchy

Theocracy is a form of government by God or a god either directly or through a priestly order. Theocracy is a system of government or a State governed by a sacerdotal order, claiming a divine commission.

Theocrat: A person who rules in a theocracy as the representative of God or a god; a divine or deified ruler.

A “theocracy,” as its name suggests, has to do with the rule of God over a people. But there is more to a theocracy than the bare fact that God is exercising control over his children. 

A true theocracy exists when God’s dominion is coupled with a domain, when his rule is connected to a realm, an actual piece of real estate within the borders of which God rules his people in a special and unique way. Israel’s situation in the Promised Land is perhaps the most obvious example of a theocracy in the Bible.

Many of the islamic countries are basically theocracies though they have elected representatives and parliament.

Theocracy and Democracy
Theocracy and democracy as forms of governments cannot really be compared. Whereas theocracy is religious, democracy is rational. In theocracy, the country and its people are ruled by a group that believes to be guided by God. Whereas in a theoretical state the ruling body is chosen on religious basis, the democratic state's governing body is chosen by a system of elections. Theocracy is not without sins. Countries where theocracy is prevalent the rights to women have been curtailed. Women are deprived of basic rights such as education and welfare and are subject to a lot of domestic violence. Theocracy, compared to democracy is not a very progressive. Theocracy tends to curtail basic human rights in the name of religion.

THE BATTLE FOR LIBERALISM: FACING THE CHALLENGE OF THEOCRACY
Lucas Swaine, Critical Review, Volume 19, Issue 4 October 2007 , pages 565 - 575
Abstract: Liberal theory has failed to provide theocrats who are aggrieved by the sinful practices widespread in liberal societies good reasons to tolerate these sins. Moreover, liberal theory has faltered in identifying grounds on which to impose regulations that violate theocrats' religious doctrines. These challenges must be met if liberalism is to temper religious discord and to maintain its own relevance in a world replete with theocratic conceptions of the good.

Globalisation, theocracy and the new fascism: the US Right’s rise to power
Carl Davidson, Jerry Harris, Global Studies Association of North America
Race & Class, Vol. 47, No. 3, 47-67 (2006)
The Christian Right is an increasingly powerful phenomenon in US politics. Extremely influential in the current administration, it has been building a mass base across the nation. This analysis of a movement that has been growing over the past four decades reveals the complex interrelationships between its different strands, their reach into the mass media, their war of attrition against socially liberal legislation and the opportunistic links with elements of the pro-Israel lobby. Also examined are the contradictions and potential contradictions within its different facets. Most alarming are those elements which revile, as anti-Christian, the very concept of a democratic society in their aim at overall ‘dominion’.

Serving God in a Largely Theocratic Society: Rivalry and Cooperation between Church and King - Pierre Salmon (LEG - CNRS UMR 5118 - Université de Bourgogne)
Abstract: A “largely theocratic society” (LTS) is defined as one in which the main purpose of government is religious and some coercion is used to serve it. Such societies exist at least in the imagination and discourse of some people. The focus is on LTS in which the major religious roles are assigned -- partly on the basis of theological interpretations -- to priesthood, kingship and community. The influence of these interpretations on actual outcomes and their appeal to the main actors depend also on the expected configuration of religiously relevant capabilities, assumed to vary in part exogenously and in a part as a consequence of the reactions of the community.

The Israeli Legal System: A Barrier to Theocracy - Abrutyn, Seth.
Paper presented at the annual meeting of the American Sociological Association.
Abstract: Sociologists see the role or function of the legal system from various angles; some view it as a form of integration in a modern pluralist society (Durkheim 1893/1984), other’s view it as a requisite institution for the development of rational capitalism and bureaucracy (Weber 1978), while others see it as a “weapon” that can be harnessed by those in positions of power (Turk 1976). In light of the recent invasion of Iraq and the subsequent foray into statecraft, the legal system becomes a vital institution ensuring the separation of mosque and state, while promoting the “rule of law” to ensure the success of the other nascent institutions.

Being Pious under a Theocracy: Religiosity in Post-Khomeini Iran, Tezcur, Gunes Murat
The question of how Islamic religion interacts with sociopolitical modernity has been at the forefront of public and academic debates. At the level of public value systems and attitudes, the focus has been on whether Islamic beliefs foster anti-secular political worldviews. Are personal levels of Islamic faith associated with support for Islamic rule? Do religious people tend to be different in their sociopolitical attitudes then non-religious people? The findings suggest that both religiosity and positive political attitudes towards the state make people more supportive of the Islamic rule. Religious citizens refrain from participating in Friday prayers as a reaction to their abuse by regime hardliners for political propaganda and are highly critical of the current political governance. These findings indicate the importance of discussions of "Islamic democracy" for evaluating the prospects of political transformation in the Muslim World.

Beyond Theocracy and Secularism (Part I): Toward a New Paradigm for Law and Religion
Mark C. Modak-Truran, Mississippi College - School of Law, Mississippi College Law Review, Vol. 27, p. 159, 2007-2008.
The continued vitality of religion has motivated many scholars in sociology, anthropology, political theory, international relations, and philosophy to revisit their assumptions about how religion relates to their disciplines. Despite this robust reexamination in other disciplines, the secularization of law - that the law is or should be independent of any religious foundation or values - arguably constitutes the most widely-held but least-examined assumption of the modern paradigm of law and religion (secularism). This article argues that the widespread acceptance of legal indeterminacy calls into question this secularism and points the way toward the desecularization of the law.

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