Abstract
This chapter looks into three key aspects of theocratic power relations: how rulers are selected (succession procedures), how their power is institutionalized within the system (institutional regimes) and how they make the ruled conform to the norms they establish (political control). Theocratic succession procedures, regardless of their form, are interpreted as instruments used by God to reveal his choice. Institutional arrangements in theocracies vary as to the type of relations between secular rulers and religious functionaries, from hierocracy to caesaropapism; they often emerge in response to pressures within and outside of the political system as a way to maximize the regime’s “utility function”. Mechanisms of political control, defined as social control consciously applied by the rulers, and illustrated with examples from American theocratic communities, consist of norms and sanctions attached to them. Whether these sanctions are violent or not, they may lead to high, even totalitarian levels of control, especially in theocratic communes.
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Notes
- 1.
In Dante’s Monarchy (1996, book III, chapter XV), the formula refers to the princes-electors of the German Empire, but it leads to the same theocratic conclusion.
- 2.
In a democracy, such a rationale obviously exists: lottery gives everyone an equal chance of holding office, regardless of their wealth, rhetorical skills, personal charm etc. Even in its secular versions, though, such as in ancient Athenian democracy or Renaissance Italian city states, lottocracy may have had religious origins (Hansen 1999, 50–51).
- 3.
This was, however, done after his name was drawn by lot in front of a holy statue (Schwieger 2015, 39). It is thus conceivable that the lottery was accorded more authority than the subsequent test. More likely, however, the decision was dictated by immediate political considerations.
- 4.
For example, in Algeria, “[t]o be eligible to the Presidency of the Republic, the candidate should […] be of Muslim faith” (Constitution de la République Algérienne, art. 87); in Oman, “whomever is to be chosen from amongst them as successor shall be a Muslim” (Oman’s Constitution of 1996, art. 5).
- 5.
See Article 99 of the Constitution of the Islamic Republic of Iran.
- 6.
As an aside, the notion of “covenant of grace” is somewhat inconsistent with the Calvinist idea of predestination: God’s gift of grace is free, not conditioned on any obligations that a believer is due to the sovereign God. However, this theological tension was probably, in practice, relieved by the emphasis on communal aspects of covenant.
- 7.
In his excellent analyses of Mormon power relations, D. Michael Quinn refers in this connection to the Mormon “culture of violence” (1997, chap. 7). However, he subsumes under this label some instances of physical sanctions which might not be, in fact, related to religion (e.g. punishments for criminal offences).
- 8.
Everett (1823, 100) quotes a characteristic exchange which might occur between a Shaker elder and a boy he was trying to discipline, where both invoke a “gift” to back their arguments.
- 9.
- 10.
See the cases of Calvin Green and Richard McNemar, discussed in Potz (2012, 396–398).
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Potz, M. (2020). Theocracies as Political Systems. In: Political Science of Religion. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-20169-2_4
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