Theocracy
Theocracy is a form of autocracy[1] or oligarchy in which one or more deities are recognized as supreme ruling authorities, giving divine guidance to human intermediaries, with executive and legislative power, who manage the government's daily affairs.
Josephus argued that while mankind had developed many forms of rule, most could be subsumed under the following three types: monarchy, oligarchy, and democracy.
[4] Josephus' definition was widely accepted until the Enlightenment era, when the term took on negative connotations and was barely salvaged by Hegel's commentary.
A related phenomenon is a secular government co-existing with a state religion or delegating some aspects of civil law to religious communities.
[18] Mount Athos is a mountain peninsula in Greece which is an Eastern Orthodox autonomous area consisting of 20 monasteries under the direct jurisdiction of the Primate of Constantinople.
However, it was formally recognized as part of Greece only after a diplomatic dispute with the Russian Empire was no longer an obstacle, after the latter's collapse during World War I.
[19] Mount Athos is specifically exempt from the free movement of people and goods required by Greece's membership of the European Union,[20] and entrance is allowed only with express permission from the monks.
[21] Athos is governed jointly by a community consisting of members of the 20 monasteries and a Civil Administrator, appointed by the Greek Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
By the end of 2000, the Taliban controlled 90% of the country, aside from the opposition (Northern Alliance) strongholds which were primarily found in the northeast corner of Badakhshan Province.
[24] The Taliban forbade pork and alcohol, many types of consumer technology such as music,[24] television,[24] and film,[24] as well as most forms of art such as paintings or photography,[24] male and female participation in sport,[24] including football and chess;[24] recreational activities such as kite-flying and keeping pigeons or other pets were also forbidden, and the birds were killed according to the Taliban's ruling.
[24] Women were banned from working,[24] girls were forbidden to attend schools or universities,[24] were requested to observe purdah and to be accompanied outside their households by male relatives; those who violated these restrictions were punished.
[24] Men were forbidden to shave their beards and required to let them grow and keep them long according to the Taliban's liking, and to wear turbans outside their households.
Several of them, such as the Minister of Health and Governor of the State bank, were primarily military commanders who were ready to leave their administrative posts to fight when needed.
According to Iran's constitution, "all civil, penal, financial, economic, administrative, cultural, military, political, and other laws and regulations must be based on Islamic criteria.
The Leader appoints the heads of many powerful governmental positions: the commanders of the armed forces, the director of the national radio and television network, the heads of powerful major religious and economic foundations, the chief justice of Iran, the attorney general (indirectly through the chief justice), special tribunals, and members of the supreme national security council who are dealing with defense and foreign affairs.
According to its charter, the position of head of state of the Central Tibetan Administration belongs ex officio to the Dalai Lama, a religious hierarch.
In this respect, it continues the traditions of the former government of Tibet, which was ruled by the Dalai Lamas and their ministers, with a specific role reserved for a class of monk officials.
Sumerian cities were probably theocratic and were most likely headed by a priest-king (ensi), assisted by a council of elders including both men and women.
The official offer of cultus to a living emperor acknowledged his office and rule as divinely approved and constitutional: his Principate should therefore demonstrate pious respect for traditional republican deities and mores.
[65] After their overthrow by the Zhou, the royal clan of Shang were not eliminated but instead moved to a ceremonial capital where they were charged to continue the performance of their rituals.
The term properly refers to the head of a thearchy (a kingdom of gods), but the more specific "theocrat" carries associations of a strong priesthood that would be generally inaccurate in describing imperial China.
[65] The Heavenly Kingdom of Great Peace (1851 to 1864) in Qing China was a heterodox Christian theocracy led by Hong Xiuquan, who portrayed himself as the younger brother of Jesus Christ.
His theocratic state fought one of the most destructive wars in history, the Taiping Rebellion, against the Qing dynasty for fifteen years before being crushed following the 1864 fall of the rebel capital Nanjing.
Followers of Shia Islam, however, believe a Caliph should be an Imam chosen by God from the Ahl al-Bayt (the "Family of the House", Muhammad's direct descendants).
[72][73] In nearby Zürich, Switzerland, Protestant reformer Huldrych Zwingli (1484–1531) built a political system that many scholars have called a theocracy, while others have denied it.
He proposed the redemption of slaves by selling public lands, reducing the size and salary of Congress, the closure of prisons, the annexation of Texas, Oregon, and parts of Canada, the securing of international rights on the high seas, free trade, and the re-establishment of a national bank.
This original organization, based upon Joseph Smith's concept of theodemocracy, instituted a governmental system combining biblical theocracy with mid-19th-century American political ideals.
[84] From 1620 until the American Revolution (but with many lingering traces extending into the modern era), Massachusetts colonies operated as strict theocracies, in which every white resident was required to belong to the Congregational (Puritan) Church.
During the Sassanid period (224 to 651 CE), the Zoroastrian calendar was reformed, image-use in worship was banned, Fire Temples were increasingly built, and intolerance towards other faiths prevailed.
During his rule, "unchristian" books, statues, poetry, and other items were burned (in the Bonfire of the Vanities), sodomy was made a capital offense, and other Christian practices became law.
