Fortunately or unfortunately, they are quite incompatible with the theocratic ones: the popular sovereignty implicit in universal suffrage is completely at odds with the sovereignty of God.

ECONOMIST: Anatomy of a power struggle

In places ranging from British campuses to the jails and torture chambers of Uzbekistan, there are zealous ideologues who follow the Qutbist line that all human agencies of power are a violation of the sovereignty of God.

ECONOMIST: Islam and democracy

Leaving the crown to one side also helped dodge the question of whether the king's sovereignty came from the people, or from God.

BBC: King Willem-Alexander: Dutch crown explained