2011/01/28 by P. Q. Mason · 1 citation
Arts and Humanities · Social Sciences · #American Constitutional Law and Politics #Assertion #History #Law #Modernity #Mormonism, Religion, and History #Philosophy #Political science #Politics #Public sphere #Religion and Society Interactions #Religious studies #Secularization #Sociology
paper · pdf · doi:10.1093/jcs/csq135
openalex publication_date 2011/01/28 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/30
The Westphalian system that has governed international relations for the past three and a half centuries came about in part as a response to the problem of religion in political life, particularly as manifested in the great “wars of religion” of early modern Europe. Consensus has never been reached, however, on precisely what role religion should play in the contemporary system of nation-states. The global resurgence of religion since the late 1970s, memorably dubbed the “revenge of God” by one scholar, has featured a newly invigorated assertion by religious believers and institutions that religion should have a significant, even determinative, voice in the public sphere.1 This revival of public religion has dramatized the complaints of secular modernity's discontents, and catalyzed the sentiments of many religious believers who have long been uncomfortable with secularization in its most extreme forms. Nineteenth-century Mormons protested both the spiritual disharmony they encountered in an increasingly cluttered American religious landscape and the early processes of what they perceived already as excessive secularization. Proclaiming their allegiance to God in all human affairs while also maintaining a sincere faith in American republicanism, early Mormons, under the direction of founding prophet Joseph Smith, sought to create a sociopolitical order that combined the virtues of government by God (theocracy) and by the people (democracy). Rather than seeing these systems as being competitive or contradictory, Smith and his followers viewed them as complementary; indeed, many argued that they were inseparable and could not be fully enacted one without the other, that theos and demos were in fact part of an organic system of government that permeated not only earthly but also heavenly realms. To this end, inasmuch as Mormons offered something resembling a distinctive political theory, particularly in the period from their settlement in Nauvoo, Illinois, until the abandonment of plural marriage in 1890, it can most succinctly be captured by the term coined in the midst of Joseph Smith's 1844 presidential campaign: “theodemocracy.” This essay outlines the development of the concept of theodemocracy in nineteenth- and early twentieth-century Mormonism, then considers the limitations of its application in a pluralist modern American society. While Mormons saw in the theodemocratic model an idealized blend of human agency and divine authority that would culminate in the prophesied millennial kingdom of God, critics expressed fears that theodemocracy could not tolerate genuine religious pluralism and would lead to oppressive restrictions on personal liberty. By the last decade of the nineteenth century, as federal pressure forced Latter-day Saints to retreat from the fusion of religion and politics that characterized much of their early history, theodemocracy had evolved from an explicit political philosophy to a depoliticized descriptor of Latter-day Saint (LDS) ecclesiastical governance. This shift in the meaning and application of theodemocracy provides insights into the challenges faced by Mormonism as it was forced to reckon with the modern world. As Mormonism acclimated to the demands of the secular, liberal, democratic nation-state, its theology and practice were increasingly privatized, and the LDS Church began to shed its role as a reviled countercultural sect as it assumed the shape of an acceptable American denomination. Early Mormon political thought was heavily dependent on its American context. Andrew Jackson's ascendance to the presidency in 1829 both emblemized and further spurred a democratic revolution in the United States in which the sovereignty of the common man (specifically, white males) was taken more seriously than ever before. The attendant rise in individualism was paralleled by a transportation and market revolution, and together these processes contributed to an increased sense of social and economic dislocation experienced by many Americans. Many early converts to Mormonism were seeking harbor from the uncertainties of pervasive social change, and like countless others who turned to revivalist evangelical Protestantism, they found solace and answers to their spiritual and existential questions in religion.2 Although certain elements of the Mormon belief system made it unpopular with its competitors in the religious marketplace, at its outset the movement was markedly apolitical, certainly making more on politics than most evangelical of the Mormonism was not to for to one of Smith's that as the of the millennial Mormon converts began to in The made the more the of a Mormon the of institutions and their turned to and the Mormons to in was in the of by but by the the for that Latter-day Saints began to more political Although Mormons by and government they faith in American and on the of the that God the of this by the of this the of the in in the midst of further with like a of founding the virtues of the of who the while to and in about which for and made an to the of The most political from the LDS early by one of Smith's by a of the in This of belief and in not the of divine was in LDS with a long to the the that were of God for the of government to to the of the and of and the of all in and The on the of for the of to be voice of the people a or the of the While had to they public the for was these the of but not to religious the of these and was then had a to and the in which they of the most in of came the of the not it to religious with one religious and in its spiritual and the of its as not that religious has authority to on the of or life, to from them this or to them in of or or to the Mormon political philosophy at all from contemporary American political and and the American in Although by the of the decade Mormons had with the that the and federal were or in their they faith that the not the was the practice of one of the by their in and particularly was a of political that was to be in the early of the nineteenth and that a common the into the the in the of politics and in Joseph Smith offered as one of the of the in being to and in and the The of Mormonism in its decade were with or The by the Latter-day Saints on the of the in Nauvoo, Illinois, one of the in Mormon was in the early that the most elements of Mormonism and and Joseph Smith and more in both his and distinctive Mormon and as for the the of and plural development with political was the of Smith's about the of the kingdom of God on the Although as early as made the kingdom of God a in Smith's thought and it was not until that this kingdom this to one scholar, of a spiritual kingdom were to an earthly kingdom with all of the political of political This a of as by the Mormons, was to sovereignty all of the of the Although Smith that had of the and was about many particularly in only of what have as a that their was a they had God to their and by to they were both and ecclesiastical in more than the prophet that the the The kingdom of God of Joseph Smith and early Mormons be in of their and at While the of for the most Latter-day Saints seriously certain of Smith's that offered as the that great and of the even at the they was that while government would not be fully until the of as the Saints and in the people would be to and to with the which would be an of in a of and was that the the Saints and their would as the of they the of the last would early Mormons, to were of their role at the of human their these of in the a sense of and the of on This sense of and Mormonism and the for its of the kingdom of Latter-day Saints their was by God as a for and to millennial This contributed to a sense of under which the Saints to be in a The of the kingdom of God, combined with the of the that Mormons were to to the of as were in a on the of with in an in which Joseph Smith's political was Nauvoo, at the of his and religious Smith his into the in the 1844 presidential Although was only a into the and his of or the of the were his an in early Mormon many of his were in fact by the of Smith's political thought can be from under his a response to an in the Latter-day and the of Smith's political at As the governed and as not a or the which God as their and as by by be and for a God and the people the to the affairs of in and and the of and be for the of To the part of a to the of the in the sentiments of for all an of this also in from in the contemporary political that government the fact of God as their and the States and not and that secular political was and then with the or of these the Mormon prophet his to the of democratic political theory, which was in part a of from institutions and and on the on the of While Smith with the that the to and that government was to their people in the modern to with of and and secular as the for religious and Smith theodemocracy as the to political with that one would lead to the would and while the and of the only and Smith's was by the his people in in which could many of or in indeed, began his presidential in part could not from the of that they would the of the Mormon the Smith's critics in that had a government in that on the and of and the of and Smith and the Mormons a more application of religion in the public as the to the secular to religious their while critics the prophet as a and his politics as The that Joseph Smith in 1844 was in part of fears that God, or at the Mormon of God, was in of his Smith's government was one and and the sovereignty of both God and the in a would human and be under a theodemocratic government would be with a significant, not of to the of the Smith that government was to be on not Smith's that would and lead to also the of the as from all a and God and who to for Smith's for theodemocracy American of the and the and would have a that increasingly the as Although his political was with democratic it was by his American was an and even but its had been in to the of the Latter-day was to a theodemocratic government that would and in the millennial of was making his on but also was never one to be with the of or in politics as as Joseph Smith that followers and to what theodemocracy like to his that his and would with Smith's into his his and theology as they the of Latter-day Saints who to the Smith's of of the concept and was the of a sociopolitical than Smith but their of the term the that the had on their Joseph Smith's three in the presidency of the LDS all of were his personal his life, sought to the founding in all on government were and to contemporary but as a that both God and the people should play a Although the his on government Smith's for something and to that was a that what a government his that sense of the it a and but in from and The was that in a theodemocracy the the and of the The kingdom of God and the for the people in their to which the by which the people can be Rather than and one and were both the kingdom of its to to divine a sovereignty God and the in the presidency was one of the three who were in the Illinois, with Joseph Smith was was an and of the faith in the the of the Mormons under increasingly federal and to to federal for much of his had to the millennial kingdom of God, secular that the Saints would be the of a of in which a of to the the of government on As one of the more and of Mormon political had sought to the and republicanism, that was the of government and democratic the that sovereignty expressed divine not that the voice of the people the voice of The of government and then the people have their their as they had in to that a in which and from God the of the God was the of all human systems could only be of that man or of of their and by their of the human While the of human the sovereignty of God and the of human a to and the of sovereignty that was as an under Joseph Smith who the of the from until his in a period of of his as was to plural marriage in an as the also the from to the government to increased with the a shift that to in his the concept of theodemocracy but to that it was that theodemocratic government on both voice of God and the of the seeking to that the an the at the of which had also While and should be in fact a God and the God had a while the role was to or to that This was made explicit by LDS Smith in system should be voice of the people to the voice of This on the of God and the never an of in which and religious the in all Mormon theodemocratic The of who not Joseph Smith to on the meaning and of As they sought to the in a of with American politics and a shift in their the early of the century, about or of the kingdom of God on in increasingly in its only to government than making on one of in the early century, theodemocracy with ecclesiastical response to about it was the of or the of the Latter-day that the was that of and of the was but made of the application ecclesiastical in an the to great in that Mormons were Americans. made a and ecclesiastical United States a in which the people as the one of The Church of a in which God and the people the Church of God and his Church of of Latter-day By theodemocracy with government and making on the political like contributed to the of Mormon from presidential politics in 1844 to ecclesiastical only a LDS of theodemocracy this early twentieth-century the term in an of government and its more political in the The of theodemocracy more as Latter-day Saints from their on the of and and a of religious The concept of theodemocracy evolved Mormonism from its political to the Mormon theology of a political kingdom of God on the to a more of its By the early century, it to and the of common This was all part of the of Mormonism to the of American social and political Nineteenth-century as Joseph Smith, and sought to and secular authority of and By the of the century, however, the LDS Church had from the political and had more of a with many of its more in the of and The twentieth-century not only came to but in many a of and the and on marriage in which Mormons a the LDS Church a of political that it not or political or but the as an to in a that it have or or that the of the LDS on theodemocracy the that their political system human agency and Joseph Smith's of the concept that theodemocracy was to the and that human Mormons the and of their maintaining that the of was not to be by their of government to be in with of and and to be the of the religious pluralism and that American expressed had early the of in LDS theology and saw government on government in in which even the God human his to that or the their by which and all others in the of the that the of the be the can the of the in the to man the to his never of that for by can ever the that theodemocracy was not to people to from them as it was to that an would his and his as for but in the God would only with and not The as to what Latter-day Saints they of this which then had in the of his of early Mormon argued that the LDS concept of from a of the to in the Mormon system people were not in to and to God for what has and they under from and this the Mormon of was not to early by as and the of argued that not in a and or in an of only and by the of and of all of of was in with the and of This concept of or in the thought of and a in the and that in Although early LDS and a from a of on this Mormons their that the Mormon concept of agency was in fact from the of human sovereignty and in many Mormon of and government in with American Mormons not their theodemocratic as with the of American but in much the that that his not the LDS the of the United States as was to a to Joseph Smith, to and of all man to the agency which have Smith on this that of the United States a it to all who with the of like the and of a great in a and the in that it in God and the in an of Smith's that and institutions of as as can with the by the The problem came these and institutions were in which for Nineteenth-century Latter-day Saints were to the it the particularly of religious that they to a society. the end, however, they were more to government than to democratic government as an in had them in their that they fully its to into a not by the in the LDS on in in this Mormons, of with and federal in the of a for then in the of the people was an government and in and with the of the and into authority by an and by the of the and both into and The of government was than its of than a While Mormons that the with its of the for it was only a to the order of the kingdom of God, in which human agency would be to the of from of in which to who as seeking their and even in which as of a seeking the common The theodemocratic of human was not an to of all but the to agency with the of and kingdom on democratic or that this was to the of of system that ecclesiastical and authority it the fact of religious the modern pluralism even the Latter-day Saints the United States to a that they could their they could not create that would in their from to to the American that already the long the Mormons Mormons would with was by a of in and them with a This their and of religious and the of Mormon could lead to not part of their theory, the of Mormons were in by the of which as one of its the of of practice not to theory, however, in a of and even with their of belief Mormons that human not have to in of to the of for public or and that but never the of the one of his most at a in Joseph Smith his followers to not with man for his all to man to his religion man has a in a to be a as as a this Mormonism paralleled in religious as an human that should be by the and only with one sense of the and the of that even on the people would the of religious with the that theodemocracy would than human saw the of the kingdom of God as the of religious to the kingdom of God fully the a government that in his that government was this of would the the the the the the the the the the and of most in all their and in the of and they not the of the Joseph Smith a for religious as in society. by or under the of LDS Church Smith, the of all believers by religious could a and While the people of all it also the of for the LDS as complaints them could be as of Smith also in a in the of the of a in 1844 as a of the government of the kingdom of God on and into the on the and their to of was not but by divine were not to be of the but to to the of and have and of their and and all the and of the The of Mormon as by founding Mormon and in Nauvoo, that all of religious would be and of the and could be and even in not the in and with that the like a but as a them of their and their in were to on Joseph Smith's and viewed his of religious and political one of the of the Mormons and in great of Joseph Smith was to with the most and all who of his of the Mormon Church and of the a that Joseph Smith of and of the of that Smith's from the of the of the that the and the of from the by that government was an oppressive that not American as of the of and religious and the of that to Smith's The of the Saints to in Mormon and his were as they to from what they had an for people of to have perceived from the it that Mormon theodemocracy was not in its for religious at of the practice as it was in his of in and that while the of a it be an system and and a into not the and public of only about the of system of government on religious or ecclesiastical authority be with the philosophy and politics in the modern As the authority in a be in God or in the to democratic on the one religious a as they or on of God and the on the that the to even under the most an order in which the of the people and the of God to be and Joseph Smith a in which could in fact the or at a of and as part of a common and even political the that Smith was an of for his as many people as to in their of all while in of The kingdom of God, in Smith's would not be democratic in the sense that its on on their of would it be a in which an of as the divine to the and in a Mormon God and the people the concept and practice of theodemocracy a of could be theos and or the of theos an that one the of the theos in fact demos in Mormon that elements the more and role in both the Mormon system and in Latter-day Saint religious and at theodemocracy can be as in modern or in Mormon theodemocracy the the of and authority which the people or the and of democratic was an of in which an and demos to the and of the by and with the authority of This not to that were but that they their agency the of and a of with they had been by God to Latter-day Saints not the American of to their in a religious that meaning and to the and which a on to the of demos a role to many in the nineteenth of a much more public and even political role for religion and religious institutions than most The of Joseph Smith's would have the of sovereignty while also maintaining that it was the of God that governed the affairs of all and that particularly in the of divine made Mormons was not much that they saw theos and demos in or even that they a millennial of at the of human what Latter-day Saints was their faith that the theodemocratic of their and in and was the and to millennial To theodemocracy the the more and that could only be fully with the of and government on the Early Mormons saw theodemocracy as the fusion of the of all systems of it it not on the divine of but on the direction of God, the of it was not on of or but on personal and being by and it a democratic it was on the and of man but on and of who to the of God and to his authority for the of his and most by was its with and particularly religious Early Mormon were to the that could be in a theodemocratic and even play a role in the institutions of they to fully was the that at in the would have a of the of theos and its its Mormonism had its of Church as not only spiritual but also social order By the Mormon of the of pluralism and that theodemocracy a certain of common and by all of the a system that on all of the or at the for to have a with and of the would be something to in this many would to theodemocracy as more than a that and their millennial to their American in which most had not to with Mormons never the of what their of theodemocracy like in a modern in which a the modern American political the problem of pluralism that theos and demos in the end, Joseph Smith not his as a political however, was a religious that a of that would to Early Mormon in Joseph Smith and were not in the they were for the kingdom of God a society. The that that Smith or was his belief that his was to God and together in this that and God were in but not in this that from and and God could be and this a system in which God and the people would in the government of human The of theodemocracy the of Mormon about the that people had with one and with the to the in and with the democratic of their and Although were made by Smith and of the of their the of and its to in a society. This to with genuine pluralism in with of theodemocracy not as a for government but as a human The for a government of God and the people from their of and in which manifested in on all of government a to the and genuine of American who were the of religious the of God into human government would only the of human and most particularly the to to the of most not God was in the public but or at As Latter-day Saints to into the American the more political and public of its application to the of the The concept but only the of Latter-day who of their to the and and in the system of that a of the as in and political the people in a in what has the of has an on and in the theodemocratic of Mormonism, God and the people together in a of The system not however, for who not the or to a and of that The Mormon concept of theodemocracy a for the democratic of the modern American while an for religious the late twentieth-century and early who would for a voice for God in a