Nomocracy

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A nomocracy (from Greece nomos (law) and kratos (power), dominion, rule) is a government which is ruled by law. That is, a government under the sovereignty of rational laws and civic right as opposed to one under theocratic systems of government ^[1]. In a nomocracy, ultimate and final authority (sovereignty) exists in the law.

Other commentators dispute this interpretation of nomocracy, making its opposite an autocracy. From this perspective, whether a theocracy is or is not a nomocracy depends on the system of belief behind it. Firstly, Hans von Aiberg stated "Mehdist Nomokrasi (Mightyist Nomocracy)" in his book Arz'dan Arş'a Evrenin Sırları ve Sınırları, in 80's. Secondly, according to Seyyed Hossein Nasr in The Heart of Islam (2002), "the Islamic ideal is that of a nomocracy, that is, the rule of Divine Law" (148). From another perspective, the Divine Law makes Allah the sovereign, making it a kind of divine autocracy.

References

1. ^ Ernst Haeckel, The Riddle of the Universe (1929), Watt's & Co. Translated by Joseph McCabe.

2. Michael Oakeshott’s "Lectures in the History of Political Thought" Chapters 31 and 32