theocratic

(adjective)

A form of government in which a deity is officially recognized as the civil ruler. Official policy is governed by officials regarded as divinely guided, or is pursuant to the doctrine of a particular religion or religious group.

Related Terms

Examples of theocratic in the following topics:

  • Types of Governments

    • Theocratic governments enact theonomic laws.
    • Theocratic tendencies have been found in several religious traditions including Judaism, Islam, Confucianism, Hinduism, and among Christianity: Catholicism, Eastern Orthodoxy, Protestantism, and Mormonism.

  • Types of States

    • Theocratic governments enact theonomic laws.

  • The Sumerians

    • Second, trade goods began to flow down waterways in southern Mespotamia, and large, temple-centered cities (most likely theocratic and run by priests-kings) rose up to facilitate this trade.

  • The Mesopotamian Cultures

    • Sumerian cities during the Uruk period were probably theocratic and likely headed by priest-kings (ensis), assisted by a council of elders, including both men and women.

  • The Sicán

    • This religious ideology served as the underpinning of the social hierarchy of the theocratic state.

  • The Sultanates of Somalia

    • During the Ajuran period, many regions and people in the southern part of the Horn of Africa converted to Islam because of the theocratic nature of the government.

  • Interventions in Latin America and the Middle East

    • Iran in particular became a key U.S. ally, until a revolution led by the Shi'a clergy overthrew the monarchy in 1979 and established a theocratic regime that was even more anti-western than the secular regimes in Iraq or Syria.