THEOCRATIC FORM OF

GOVERNMENT
 THEOCRACY

• The term theocracy signifies belief in governance by divine

guidance, a form of regime in which religion or faith plays the
dominant role.

• It denotes thus a political unit governed by a deity or by officials

thought to be divinely guided.

• The word theocracy originates from the Greek theokratia. The

components of the word are theos, “god,” and kratein, “to
rule,” hence “rule by god” or “government by god.”
• A type of government where the clergy rules
 COUNTRIES WITH A THEOCRATIC GOVERNMENT

• Afghanistan
• Iran
• Mauritania
• Saudi Arabia
• Sudan
• Vatican
• Yemen
 PROS & CONS OF
THEOCRATIC GOVERNMENT
 ADVANTAGES

1. It promotes an organized government.

The church and the state work closely together in a theocracy, and this
cooperation results to an organized and efficient form of government. Since there
are no separate government branches (unlike democracies, which often have
legislative, judicial, and executive branches), new laws and bills can be enacted in
a quicker way. These new directives can also be easily passed from the top leaders
to the general population since there is less debate among lower-ranking
government officials and less complaints from ordinary citizens.
 ADVANTAGES

2. It can lead to a better society.

Most theocratic governments have efficient and well-organized processes.
Evidence of this is that funds are easily distributed among various government
departments, which is made possible by the fact that lengthy discussions aren’t
required to set a national budget and release the appropriate amount of money.
The availability of finances ensures that the government has the resources to
alleviate hunger, develop housing projects, provide good healthcare services,
create job and education opportunities, and take other steps to solve low-income
issues.
 ADVANTAGES

3. It inspires peace and unity among the people.

Theocratic societies are ideally more peaceful than other communities. Since
the government has enough funds for public and social services, the people are
less exposed to poverty and have few reasons to steal others’ belongings, break
into homes, and commit other crimes. The government also has full control over
the citizens because they can use religious fear and persecution to keep people in
line and discourage them from causing trouble. Of course, the citizens
themselves are highly likely to get along well with each other since they have
common belief systems, and they’re more patriotic since they believe that their
country is favored by whatever deity they worship.
DISADVANTAGES
 DISADVANTAGES

1. It makes it easier for leaders to abuse their authority.

Theocracy ideally brings out the best in everybody, but this doesn’t always
happen in the real world. In some cases, the country’s leaders can use the name of
their god and the people’s reverence of their deity to create laws and programs that
promote their own agenda. Since the citizens are mostly afraid of offending their god
and getting punished or cursed, they have no choice but to follow the laws that their
leaders put into place — even when these can harm their country and jeopardize
their future.
 DISADVANTAGES

2. It can stunt development in many areas.

Change is an important part in democratic governments since they adapt to
their people’s needs. This isn’t the case in theocratic societies. Since their
god’s word is the law and the truth, they don’t see a reason to change the way
they govern their nation
 DISADVANTAGES

3. It prevents people from having true freedom.

In a theocratic society, ordinary citizens don’t have freedom of speech and can’t
speak out against the government, even if the leaders commit numerous atrocities and
clearly step on the people’s human rights. Minorities who don’t follow the same
religion as the majority of the people also get discriminated. They might be considered
as a lower class, which means they might not be given access to education, housing,
healthcare, and other services and will most likely live their lives in poverty. In some
cases, they might not even be recognized as full citizens of the country and therefore
have no legal rights and privileges.