Theocratic States

Describe the attributes of states and the special characteristix of theocratic states

1. Theocratic States
Several Nations Under the Gods

2. Political Organization: Basic
Principles
Power vs Authority
Power: compliance by coercion or force
Authority: compliance by persuasion
Legitimacy: Beliefs rationalizing rule
Examples: Divine Right, Peoples Consent
Sanctions: reinforcements of behavior
Positive: rewards, recognition
Negative: punishment

3. Power versus Authority
Extreme examples
Power: concentration camps:
Auschwitz (above); Guantanamo
(below)
Authority: !Kung, Inuit, Yanomamo
Neither is absolute
Dictatorships need to persuade:
Nuremberg rallies, Mayday parades
Power is evenly distributed in
nonstate cultures

4. Legitimacy as Justification for
Political Order
Justification necessary even in
authoritarian states
Monarchies: the divine right to rule
Soviet Union: Socialist transition to
communist economy
Nazi Germany: Racial purification; delivery
of full-employment (Nuremberg rallies,
above)
Democratic forms: consent by the
governed (below, State of the Union)

5. Legitimacy: Samsara in India
Justification for a given political
order
India: Caste system is
reinforced by
Samsara: A cosmic illusion
marked by
Birth-and-death cycles

6. Legitimacy: Karma in India
Karma: influenced by
one’s act in all
previous lives
Reward: rebirth in
higher state
Punishment: rebirth in
lower state
Affects all beings, from
stone to humans to
gods

7. States: Force as Prime Mover
Defining Characteristics
A centralized political system
With power to coerce
The operating factor:
Monopoly over the use of
Legitimate physical force
Supports the apparatus of the state
Bureaucracy --Army and police
Law and legal codes

8. States: Derivative Features
Administrative structure
Public services --Tax collection
Resource allocation --Foreign affairs
Delegation of force
Police, all levels --Armed force
Law
Civil (dispute resolution)
Regulatory (trade, economy)
Criminal (crime and punishment)

9. Law: Cross-Cultural Comparison
Codified law: Formally defines wrong and
specifies remedies
Customary law: Informal sanctions or
dispute resolution
Restitution or Restorative law: emphasizes
dispute resolution, damage restitution
Retributive law: emphasizes punishment for
crimes committed

10. Case Studies: Restitution
Nuer: Leopard-skin chief
Function: mediate disputes; leopard
wrap identifies role
Cannot force or enforce an
agreement
Authority is spiritual
Zapotec in Talea, Mexico
Function: hear cases and negotiate
Recommend settlement
Enforce agreement by community

11. Case Studies: Retribution
Criminal Law
Murder, Robbery, Others
Civil Law
Consumer Law and Small
Courts
Final Say: Judge or Arbitrator
Limitation: Sheer Numbers of
Cases

12. Defining Theocratic States
States whose legitimacy is derived from
supernatural sources: God or gods
Mexica (Aztecs): Legitimacy was derived from a
fear that the sun would die out
Human sacrifice necessary to prevent the loss of
the sun
Tibet: the belief in samsara—birth, death, and
rebirth
Karma: the driving force based on one’s deeds—
good or evil—in past lives.