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Challenging Theocracy: Ancient Lessons for Global Politics

Edited by David Edward Tabachnick, Toivo Koivukoski, and Hermínio Meireles Teixeira

© 2018

Commonly perceived as a direct threat to the practice of liberal democracy, the global reemergence of theocratic claims to political rule is a misunderstood development of twenty-first-century politics. Analyzing the relationship between religion and politics throughout the Middle East, Africa, and the United States, as well as classical and medieval political philosophical sources, Challenging Theocracy critiques the contemporary formation of theocracy.

Providing an account of the origins and influence of theocracy, the chapters in this volume explore ancient texts that articulate the theocratic political ideas that continue to bubble under the surface of political life today. In an effort to consider how regimes extend beyond their immediate institutional and legal forms and find their foundation in timeless ideas, the contributors examine ancient and modern political thought to better understand their persistent power and impact on global politics.

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Product Details

  • World Rights
  • Page Count: 368 pages
  • Dimensions: 6.0in x 0.8in x 9.0in
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  • PUBLISHED MAY 2018

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Quick Overview

Analyzing the relationship between religion and politics throughout the Middle East, Africa, and the United States, as well as classical and medieval political philosophical sources, Challenging Theocracy critiques the contemporary formation of theocracy and the persistence of theocratic ideas around the world.

Challenging Theocracy: Ancient Lessons for Global Politics

Edited by David Edward Tabachnick, Toivo Koivukoski, and Hermínio Meireles Teixeira

© 2018

Commonly perceived as a direct threat to the practice of liberal democracy, the global reemergence of theocratic claims to political rule is a misunderstood development of twenty-first-century politics. Analyzing the relationship between religion and politics throughout the Middle East, Africa, and the United States, as well as classical and medieval political philosophical sources, Challenging Theocracy critiques the contemporary formation of theocracy.

Providing an account of the origins and influence of theocracy, the chapters in this volume explore ancient texts that articulate the theocratic political ideas that continue to bubble under the surface of political life today. In an effort to consider how regimes extend beyond their immediate institutional and legal forms and find their foundation in timeless ideas, the contributors examine ancient and modern political thought to better understand their persistent power and impact on global politics.

Continue Reading Read Less

Product Details

  • World Rights
  • Page Count: 368 pages
  • Dimensions: 6.0in x 0.8in x 9.0in

  • Author Information

    David Edward Tabachnick is a professor in the Department of Political Science, Philosophy and Economics at Nipissing University.


    Toivo Koivukoski is an associate professor in the Department of Political Science at Nipissing University.



    Hermínio Meireles Teixeira is an assistant professor in the Department of Political Science, Philosophy and Economics at Nipissing University.

  • Table of contents

    Part One: Theocracy in Ancient Political Thought and Practice

    1. Theocracy as Temptation: Empire and Mindfulness
      Fred Dallmayr
    2. The Confrontation between Classical Political Philosophy and the Gods of the City
      Mark Lutz
    3. Between Rationalism and Theocracy: Plato, the Mysteries, and F.W.J. Schelling’s Analysis of the Modern State
      Steven McGuire
    4. The Place of Religion in Politics: On Analogous Gods and the Piety of the Unspoken
      Toivo Koivukoski
    5. The Aristotelian Roots of Religious Governance Approaches
      Jeremy Neill

    Part Two: Theocracy and Modern State Politics

    1. The Non-Theocratic Islamic Republic of Iran (IRI)
      Houchang Hassan-Yari
    2. Islamism in North Africa: From Cairo to Tunis
      Jeffry Halverson
    3. Theocratic Arguments in Judaism
      Alan Mittleman
    4. Saving Miracles: Political Theology and Theocracy in the Schmitt-Benjamin Encounter Hermínio
      Meireles Teixeira

    Part Three: Responding to the Challenges of Theocracy

    1. Theocracy’s Challenge
      Peter Simpson
    2. The Impossibility of Theocracy: The Weakness of the Gods
      Yvonne Sherwood
    3. Understanding Our Adversaries: Ancient vs. Modern Political Thought
      James Franke and Laurie Johnson
    4. Religion, Tolerance and American Theocratic Politics: Lessons for the Contemporary Era
      Scott Hibbard
    5. Shaftesbury’s Characteristics and the Problem of Priestcraft
      Ronald Beiner

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