Theocracy is a form of organization in which the official policy is to be governed by immediate divine

Religion

Religion is a collection of cultural systems, belief systems, and worldviews that establishes symbols that relate humanity to spirituality and, sometimes, to moral values. Many religions have narratives, symbols, traditions and sacred histories that are intended to give meaning to life or to...

 guidance or by officials who are regarded as divinely guided, or simply pursuant to the doctrine of a particular religious sect or religion.

From the perspective of the theocratic government, "God himself is recognized as the head" of the state, hence the term theocracy, from the Greek "rule of God", a term used by Josephus

Josephus

Titus Flavius Josephus , also called Joseph ben Matityahu , was a 1st-century Romano-Jewish historian and hagiographer of priestly and royal ancestry who recorded Jewish history, with special emphasis on the 1st century AD and the First Jewish–Roman War, which resulted in the Destruction of...

 for the kingdoms of Israel and Judah.

A theocracy may have an administrative hierarchy

Hierarchy

A hierarchy is an arrangement of items in which the items are represented as being "above," "below," or "at the same level as" one another...

 of the government identical with the administrative hierarchy of the religion, or it may have two 'arms,' but with the state administrative hierarchy subordinate to the religious hierarchy.

Theocracy should be distinguished from other, secular, forms of government that have a state religion

State religion

A state religion is a religious body or creed officially endorsed by the state...

, or are merely influenced by theological or moral concepts, and monarchies held "By the Grace of God

By the Grace of God

By the Grace of God is an introductory part of the full styles of a monarch taken to be ruling by divine right, not a title in its own right....

".
The word theocracy originates from the Greek , meaning "the rule of God".