This mandate stated that the current ruler was chosen by a divine force. In 1046 BCE, the Shang Dynasty was overthrown by the Zhou Dynasty, which used a claimed “Mandate of Heaven” as a way to overthrow the government. During the Shang Dynasty, the priest-king was thought to communicate and interpret the wishes of the gods and their ancestors. The papacy in the Papal States occupies a middle ground between theocracy and ecclesiocracy since the pope does not claim to be a prophet who receives direct revelation from God for translation into civil lawĭuring its nearly 3,000 years of recorded history, early China was ruled by several dynasties that practiced theocratic forms of government, including the Shang and Zhou Dynasties. A theocracy is often defined in contrast to an ecclesiocracy, in which religious leaders direct the government but do not claim that they act as earthly instruments of a deity. The head of state is assumed to have a personal connection with the deity or deities of the civilization's religion or spiritual belief. In a true theocracy, one or more deities are recognized as the supreme ruling authorities, giving divinely inspired guidance to the humans who manage the day-to-day affairs of the government. There is no room for democracy and all decisions of a theocracy’s leader are unquestionable.There is no separation of church and state in a true theocracy and the open practice of only the country’s prevailing religion is allowed.Serving their divine leader or leaders rather than the citizens, theocracies are often oppressive in function, with harsh punishment for rule-breakers.A theocracy is a form of government in which priests or religious leaders rule in the name of a deity or deities.
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