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Chris has an M.A. in history and taught university and high school history.
In the United States, millions of people live by two sets of laws:
Sure, some of these laws overlap (in no religion or state is it okay to steal your neighbor's car), but there are certainly differences. Catholics, for example, won't eat meat on Fridays in the four weeks before Easter, but if you tried to turn yourself in to the local police for eating meat on a Friday in April, the police officers would be rather confused.
However, throughout history, in many areas, and even in one prominent Middle Eastern country today, religious codes and the laws of the state have been one and the same, in a political system known as theocracy. In a theocracy, God (or gods, depending on the religion) is recognized as the sole head of the government. The laws dictated by God in the corresponding religion are the laws of the land, period. Due to this, in many cases, the religious and state hierarchies often overlap or are simply the same. Theocratic governments will often rely on an individual as the earthly head of the religion, like a stand-in for God, whom is the true head of both the state and religion.
In order to better understand theocracy and the forms it can take, let's explore two examples in history - one ancient and one recent.
Ancient Egypt is perhaps the best example of an ancient theocracy. In ancient Egypt, the Pharaoh was not just God's representative on Earth, but believed to be a God himself. The Pharaoh's closest advisor was often also a high priest in the ancient Egyptian polytheistic religion. Furthermore, as Pharaoh was a God himself, what Pharaoh said was consequently a dictate from the Gods and therefore law.
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The modern Islamic Republic of Iran became a theocracy, dominated by the laws and clerics of the Shi'a sect of Islam, in December 1979. According to the laws set in place by the 1979 Iranian constitution, God is recognized as the sole head of both state and religion in Iran, and he is embodied by his representative on Earth, the Ayatollah. Iran has had two Ayatollahs, and they were both selected by the Assembly of Experts. The first, a formerly exiled cleric, Ruhollah Khomeini, ruled from 1979-1989, while the second, Ali Khamenei, ruled from 1989 to the present day.
The machinations of the Iranian government are incredibly complex, and some officials, such as The President and the Assembly of Experts, are directly elected by the people. However, what makes Iran's government a theocracy is that the Ayatollah and the second most powerful body, the Guardian Council, are unelected and answerable only to God.
In order to understand what a theocracy is, it is important to note what a theocracy is not. After all, many countries, in both the past and present, recognize religious institutions or give certain religions some sort of preferred status within the structure of the state, but that doesn't make them theocracies.
For example, in England, when Henry VIII converted the whole of the country from Catholicism to his own special brand of Protestantism (what became known as Anglicanism), England exhibited many aspects of what you and I would consider a theocratic state. For example, all citizens of England were required, by law, to attend Anglican mass on Sunday. By the reign of Queen Elizabeth, absent Englishmen were subject to a fine of £20 - or about four to five times a farmer's yearly wage! Even today, England recognizes Anglicanism as its official state religion.
However, England is not a theocracy, nor has it ever been. In early-modern England, the King was recognized as monarch first, head of the Anglican Church second. Furthermore, English common law and local customs had a far more direct impact on the daily lives of Englishmen than any Anglican teachings ever did. The Anglican Church was an important part of, and had an impact on, society without dictating its structure or its governing bodies - an important distinction when trying to determine whether a state is or is not a theocracy.
Theocracies have been present throughout history, from the earliest civilizations right up through present-day. States can have religious preferences or be involved in the administration of religion without necessarily being theocratic.
In order for a government to be considered a theocracy, God (or Gods) and their representatives on Earth must be recognized as the head of the state. Furthermore, religious laws and dictates have to be recognized as the sole source of legal authority in ALL aspects of society. Even with 100% of a country's population adhering to a certain religion, without these two important aspects of government, all you have is a lot of religious people, not a theocracy.
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