Theocracy
lit. “rule by god”
A system in which religious leaders rule in the name of a divine authority, or in which religious law is the law of the state.
Origin
From Greek theos ('god') and kratos ('rule'). Coined by Josephus in the 1st century CE to describe the rule of Hebrew priests. Historical examples: medieval Papal States, Calvin's Geneva, Puritan Massachusetts, the Caliphate. Modern examples: Iran (Islamic Republic since 1979, with the Supreme Leader as final authority), the Vatican (the Pope is head of state), Saudi Arabia (sharia as constitutional basis). Israel, despite the popular framing, is a secular state with religious-law jurisdiction over personal status — not a theocracy in the technical sense.
Modern usage
Used in political argument to warn against any law motivated by religious values — 'they're trying to turn this into a theocracy.' Often hyperbolic. The Handmaid's Tale (Atwood, 1985; Hulu, 2017–) is the canonical pop-culture image of imagined American theocracy.
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