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The Economics of Theocracy

In: The Political Economy of Theocracy

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  • Mario Ferrero

Abstract

As Josephus’s opening quote unambiguously states for ancient Israel, theocracy literally means government by God. Since, however, God is not known to have ruled worldly government directly, the word is usually understood to mean government by a clergy, or a self-appointed group who claim to speak and act on God’s behalf. This will be our understanding of the term in this chapter: a political arrangement by which the main functions of secular government are discharged by a priesthood who double as secular officials. It bears noting that theocracy in this strict sense is by no means coterminous with overarching power of a church or religion; to take a current example, Saudi Arabia, which is ruled by a lay royalty, is arguably more tightly dominated by religion in everyday life than Iran, which is ostensibly ruled by clerics.

Suggested Citation

  • Mario Ferrero, 2009. "The Economics of Theocracy," Palgrave Macmillan Books, in: Mario Ferrero & Ronald Wintrobe (ed.), The Political Economy of Theocracy, chapter 2, pages 31-55, Palgrave Macmillan.
    • Handle: RePEc:pal:palchp:978-0-230-62006-3_3
    DOI: 10.1057/9780230620063_3
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    Cited by:

    1. Mario Ferrero, 2018. "Why the Arab Spring turned Islamic: the political economy of Islam," Constitutional Political Economy, Springer, vol. 29(2), pages 230-251, June.
    2. Mario Ferrero, 2013. "The rise and demise of theocracy: theory and some evidence," Public Choice, Springer, vol. 156(3), pages 723-750, September.
    3. Fabio Padovano & Ronald Wintrobe, 2012. "Theocracy is just another Form of Dictatorship: Theory and Evidence from the Papal Regimes," Economics Working Paper Archive (University of Rennes 1 & University of Caen) 201302, Center for Research in Economics and Management (CREM), University of Rennes 1, University of Caen and CNRS.

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