Buddhist Theocracy
Rule by a Buddhist monastic hierarchy, with reincarnated leaders and monasteries dominating politics and land, traditional order and moral precepts as law, as in the Tibet of the Dalai Lama before 1950.
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In one sentence
I want a society ruled by the sangha, with reincarnated lamas in command, the five precepts as law and the traditional order above elections.
Political axes
Profile across the 12 axes
- Leaning · Unitary
Structure
- Very strong · Autocracy
Representation
- Strong · Security
Power
- Strong · Assimilation
Immigration
- Strong · Pacifist
Diplomacy
- Strong · Non-interventionist
Intervention
- Leaning · Private
Economy
- Balanced
Control
- Strong · Protectionism
Trade
- Very strong · Religious
Religion
- Strong · Traditionalist
Morality
- Very strong · Biology
Technology
What sets this ideology apart
Religion
Leans further toward religious than 94% of the 248 ideologies in the catalog.
Ideology median 56This ideology 6
Of all the axes, Religion is where it stands furthest from the rest.
Structure
On Structure, it sits practically at the catalog median.
Ideology median 38This ideology 38
Here it shares common ground with most ideologies.
Personalities
13th Dalai Lama (Thubten Gyatso)
Head of theocratic Tibet, the 13th Dalai Lama expelled the Chinese and proclaimed independence in 1913, built an army, post and currency, backed down before the monasteries by closing the English school, and warned against communism in 1932.
Closest, by dimension
PoliticallyPope Pius IXPope and monarch of the Papal States93%
SociallyNicholas IITsar95%
EconomicallyJD VanceVice President of the United States99%
Other compatible profiles
ActivismNick FuentesPolitical commentator and streamer92%
ReligionPope Leo XIIIReligious leader91%
ReligionMartin LutherProtestant reformer91%
PoliticsEngelbert DollfussDictator89%
ReligionThomas AquinasTheologian and philosopher85%
PhilosophyPlatoPhilosopher85%
Political theoryPentti LinkolaRadical ecologist85%
BusinessHenry FordIndustrialist84%
The most distant
Countries
Reference country
Theocratic Tibet
1913–1950A de facto independent state between the fall of the Qing and the Chinese invasion, Tibet was a Buddhist theocracy ruled by the Dalai Lama, with monasteries and aristocracy owning the land, peasants bound to it and deliberate isolation from the modern world.
Other close countries
Afghanistan
Theocratic emirateAn Islamic emirate ruled by the Taliban since 2021, Afghanistan is governed by a clerical supreme leader who imposes a strict interpretation of sharia, bars women from education and work, and faces economic crisis and isolation.
Also close, by dimension
PoliticallyBhutanBuddhist-conservationist monarchy86%
SociallyIranClerical-statist theocracy88%
EconomicallyNigeriaFederal presidential republic89%
The most distant
Theocratic Tibet
1913–1950A de facto independent state between the fall of the Qing and the Chinese invasion, Tibet was a Buddhist theocracy ruled by the Dalai Lama, with monasteries and aristocracy owning the land, peasants bound to it and deliberate isolation from the modern world.
Also close, by dimension
PoliticallyPapal States756–187090%
SociallyPortugal (Estado Novo)1933–197494%
EconomicallyGerman Empire (Second Reich)1871–191893%
The most distant
Ideological proximity
Close ideologies
Closest within Far-Right
- Far-Right
Neo-Thomism
A neoreactionary current combining the thought of Thomas Aquinas with criticism of liberal democracy, egalitarianism, and progressivism. It grounds a hierarchical, traditional political order in natural law, objective morality, reason, and the common good, allowing for sovereign monarchical or centralized authority.
- Far-Right
Aristocratism
Doctrine of the rule of the best, entrusting power to a minority qualified by virtue, education or birth, rejecting political equality and majority rule as surrendering the city to incompetence.
- Far-Right
Jewish Theocracy
Government ruled by the Torah and halakha, with rabbinical courts, judges or kings under religious authority, Judaism as the state religion and rejection of assimilation, inspired by the biblical kingdoms of Israel and Judah.
Closest in other spectrums
- Right
Confucianism
Doctrine that grounds political order in the ruler's virtue, ritual hierarchy and filial piety, favouring bureaucratic merit and moral education over coercive law or popular participation.
- Right
Catholicism
Social doctrine of the Catholic Church, combining traditionalist morality and defense of life with concern for social justice, subsidiarity and worker dignity, under the hierarchical authority of the papacy and canon law.
- Center
Socratism
Socrates' dialectical method, examining beliefs through rational questioning and the pursuit of virtue, distrustful of mass politics and the rhetoric of demagogues, yet respectful of the city's rule of law.
The most distant ideology
Techno-CommunismAnarchist30%