Ajay Kumar at 20:35, 30 August 2023

2023-08-30T20:35:46Z

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{{Short description|Oligarchical rule by the elderly}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=August 2023}}
{{Basic forms of government}}

A '''gerontocracy''' is a form of [[oligarchical]] rule in which an entity is ruled by leaders who are significantly older than most of the adult population. In many political structures, power within the ruling class accumulates with age, making the oldest individuals the holders of the most power. Those holding the most power may not be in formal leadership positions, but often dominate those who are. In a simplified definition, a gerontocracy is a society where leadership is reserved for elders.<ref>Maddox, G. L. (1987). ''The Encyclopedia of Aging'' (p. 284). New York: Springer.</ref>

==Background==
Although the idea of the elderly holding power exists in many cultures, the gerontocracy has its [[Western world|western]] roots in [[ancient Greece]]. [[Plato]] stated that "it is for the elder man to rule and for the younger to submit".<ref>Bytheway, B. (1995). ''Ageism'' (p. 45). Buckingham: Open University Press.</ref> An example of the ancient Greek gerontocracy can be seen in the [[city-state]] of [[Sparta]], which was ruled by a [[Gerousia]], a council made up of members who were at least 60 years old and who served for life.<ref>Palmore, E. B. (1999). ''Ageism: negative and positive'' (2nd ed., p. 39). New York: Springer.</ref>

==In political systems==
===China===
[[Elder (administrative title)|Elders]] had leadership roles in many tribal societies. In the time of the [[Eight Elders|Eight Immortals]] of the [[Chinese Communist Party]], it was quipped, "the 80-year-olds are calling meetings of 70-year-olds to decide which 60-year-olds should retire".<ref>[https://time.com/2822358/tiananmen-square-25th-anniversary/], ''[[Time Magazine]]'', 4 June 2014</ref> For instance, party chairman [[Mao Zedong]] was 82 when he died, while [[Deng Xiaoping]] did not retire until the age of 85.{{citation needed|date=August 2023}}

===Soviet Union===
[[File:Bundesarchiv Bild 183-1987-0529-029, Berlin, Tagung Warschauer Pakt, Gruppenfoto.jpg|thumb|right|350px|Meeting of the seven representatives of the [[Warsaw Pact]] countries in 1987: [[Gustáv Husák]], [[Todor Zhivkov]], [[Erich Honecker]], [[Mikhail Gorbachev]], [[Nicolae Ceaușescu]], [[Wojciech Jaruzelski]], and [[János Kádár]]. Their average age then was 69.]]

In the [[Soviet Union]], gerontocracy became increasingly entrenched starting in the 1970s;<ref>[https://www.nytimes.com/1970/07/06/archives/the-coming-change-of-generations-in-the-kremlin.html The Coming Change of Generations in the Kremlin], ''[[The New York Times]]'', 6 July 1970</ref> it was prevalent in the country until at least 1985, when a more dynamic and younger, ambitious leadership headed by [[Mikhail Gorbachev]] took power.<ref>Zwass, Adam. ''The Council for Mutual Economic Assistance'', p. 127. M. E. Sharpe, 1989, {{ISBN|0-87332-496-X}}.</ref> [[Leonid Brezhnev]], its foremost representative,<ref>Gerner, Kristian and Hedlund, Stefan. ''Ideology and Rationality in the Soviet Model'', p. 346. [[Routledge]], 1989, {{ISBN|0-415-02142-1}}.</ref> died in 1982 aged 75, but had suffered a [[heart attack]] in 1975, after which generalized [[arteriosclerosis]] set in, so that he was progressively infirm and had trouble speaking. During his last two years he was essentially a figurehead.<ref>[[Jerrold Post|Post, Jerrold M.]] ''Leaders and Their Followers in a Dangerous World'', p. 96. Cornell University Press, 2004, {{ISBN|0-8014-4169-2}}.</ref>

In 1980, the average [[Politburo of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union|Politburo]] member — generally a young survivor of the [[Great Purge]] who raised to power in the 1930s and 1940s — was 70 years old (as opposed to 55 in 1952 and 61 in 1964), and by 1982, Brezhnev's minister of foreign affairs, [[Andrei Gromyko]]; his minister of defense, [[Dmitriy Ustinov]]; and his premier, [[Nikolai Tikhonov]], were all in their mid-to-late seventies.<ref>Kort, Michael. ''The Soviet Colossus: History and Aftermath'', p. 335. M. E. Sharpe, 2006, {{ISBN|0-7656-1454-5}}.</ref> [[Yuri Andropov]], Brezhnev's 68-year-old successor, was seriously ill with kidney disease when he took over,<ref>Post, p. 97.</ref> and after his death fifteen months later, he was succeeded by [[Konstantin Chernenko]], then 72, who lasted thirteen months before his death and replacement with Gorbachev. Chernenko became the third Soviet leader to die in less than three years, and, upon being informed in the middle of the night of his death, U.S. President [[Ronald Reagan]], who was seven months older than Chernenko and just over three years older than his predecessor Andropov, is reported to have remarked, "How am I supposed to get anyplace with the Russians if they keep dying on me?"<ref>{{cite news | author-link=Maureen Dowd | last=Dowd | first=Maureen | url=https://www.nytimes.com/1990/11/18/books/where-s-the-rest-of-him.html | title=Where's the Rest of Him? | newspaper=[[The New York Times]]| date=18 November 1990 | page=7:1 | access-date=10 December 2020 }}</ref>

====Communist states====
Other [[Communist countries]] with leaders in their seventies or eighties have included:
*[[Socialist People's Republic of Albania|Albania]] (First secretary [[Enver Hoxha]] was 76 at death)
*[[People's Republic of Bulgaria|Bulgaria]] (General secretary [[Todor Zhivkov]] was 78 at resignation)
*[[Socialist Republic of Czechoslovakia|Czechoslovakia]] (President [[Gustáv Husák]] was 76 at resignation)
*[[East Germany]] (General secretary and head of state [[Erich Honecker]] was 77 when forced out)
*[[People's Republic of Hungary|Hungary]] (General secretary [[János Kádár]] was 75 when forced out)
*[[Laos]] (President [[Kaysone Phomvihane]] was 71 at death)
*[[North Korea]] (Supreme leader [[Kim Il Sung]] was 82 at death)
*[[Socialist Republic of Romania|Romania]] (General secretary and conducător [[Nicolae Ceauşescu]] was 71 when executed)
*[[Vietnam]] (General secretary [[Lê Duẩn]] was 79 at death)
*[[Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia|Yugoslavia]] (President and marshall [[Josip Broz Tito]] was 87 at death)

On the sub-national level, [[Georgian Soviet Socialist Republic|Georgia]]'s party head, [[Vasil Mzhavanadze]], was 70 when forced out and his [[Lithuanian Soviet Socialist Republic|Lithuanian]] counterpart, [[Antanas Sniečkus]], was 71 at death. Nowadays, [[Cuba]] has been characterized as a gerontocracy: "Although the population is now mainly black or [[mulatto]] and young, its rulers form a mainly white gerontocracy", ''[[The Economist]]'' wrote in 2008.<ref>{{cite news|date=30 December 2008|newspaper=The Economist|title=The Cuban revolution at 50 - Heroic myth and prosaic failure|url=http://www.economist.com/world/americas/displaystory.cfm?story_id=12851254}}</ref> Cuba's [[Fidel Castro]] had ''de facto'' ruled the country for nearly 50 years, effectively retiring in 2008 at the age of 82, although he remained the leader of the Communist Party of Cuba until 2011. He was replaced by his brother, [[Raúl Castro]], who was 89 years old at the time of his own retirement.{{citation needed|date=August 2023}}

===United States===
The observation of gerontocracy in the United States has been connected to broader themes of [[American decline]].<ref>{{cite web|url=https://americanaffairsjournal.org/2020/06/americas-unhealthy-gerontocracy/|title=America's Unhealthy Gerontocracy|language=en|publisher=[[American Affairs]]|date=25 June 2020|access-date=21 September 2020}}</ref>

====Presidency====
Under presidents [[Donald Trump]] and [[Joe Biden]], the U.S. government has been described as a gerontocracy.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2019/09/03/america-gerontocracy-problem-politics-old-politicians-trump-biden-sanders-227986|title=America, the Gerontocracy|language=en|publisher=[[Politico]]|date=3 September 2019|access-date=21 September 2020}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2020/03/why-are-these-people-so-freaking-old/607492/|title=Why Do Such Elderly People Run America?|language=en|publisher=[[The Atlantic]]|date=5 March 2020|access-date=21 September 2020}}</ref> At 70, Trump was the [[List of presidents of the United States by age|oldest person]] ever to be inaugurated president, until the inauguration of Biden. Many senior officials in Trump's administration, such as attorney generals [[Jeff Sessions]] and [[William Barr]], secretary of agriculture [[Sonny Perdue]], and secretary of commerce [[Wilbur Ross]], have been 70 or older.{{citation needed|date=August 2023}}

In the [[2020 United States presidential election|2020 presidential election]], Biden prevailed against Trump, setting a new age record.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://edition.cnn.com/2020/11/06/politics/presidential-election-biden-trump-2020/index.html|title=Biden wins Pennsylvania, becoming the 46th president of the United States|language=en|publisher=[[CNN]]|date=7 November 2020|access-date=23 November 2020}}</ref> Biden was 78 when he was sworn in on January 20, 2021, making him the oldest person to be inaugurated president. If he wins his reelection campaign in [[2024 United States presidential election|2024]] and survives his second term, he will be 86 when leaving office in 2029. The Biden administration's cabinet appointments have also reflected these gerontocratic tendencies, including secretary of the treasury [[Janet Yellen]], who is {{age|1946|8|13}}.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.nytimes.com/live/2020/11/23/us/joe-biden-trump/biden-is-expected-to-name-janet-yellen-former-fed-chair-as-treasury-secretary-shed-be-the-first-woman-in-the-job|title=Biden is expected to name Janet Yellen, former Fed Chair, as Treasury secretary. She'd be the first woman in the job.|language=en|work=[[The New York Times]]|date=23 November 2020|access-date=23 November 2020}}</ref>

====Congress====
[[File:Mitch McConnell 2016 official photo (1).jpg|thumb|upright|Mitch McConnell is the head of the Republican Party in the U.S. Senate and is over 80 years old.]]

[[Nancy Pelosi]], the [[Speaker of the United States House of Representatives|speaker of the House of Representatives]] in 2022,<ref name="Reason, Boehm, Nov. 18th, 2022">{{cite web |last1=Boehm |first1=Eric |title=Nancy Pelosi Embodied America's Gerontocracy Problem |url=https://reason.com/2022/11/18/nancy-pelosi-embodied-americas-gerontocracy-problem/?utm_medium=email |website=reason.com |date=18 November 2022 |publisher=Reason |access-date=19 November 2022}}</ref> and [[Mitch McConnell]], the [[Senate majority leader]] in 2018, were both the oldest holders of their offices in U.S. history.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/news/nancy-pelosi-due-to-be-americas-oldest-house-speaker|title=Nancy Pelosi due to be America's oldest House speaker|language=en|publisher=[[Washington Examiner]]|date=14 December 2018|access-date=21 September 2020}}</ref> At 87 years old in 2020, senators [[Dianne Feinstein]] and [[Chuck Grassley]] were both the oldest members of Congress.<ref>{{Cite magazine|last=Mayer|first=Jane|title=Dianne Feinstein's Missteps Raise a Painful Age Question Among Senate Democrats|url=https://www.newyorker.com/news/news-desk/dianne-feinsteins-missteps-raise-a-painful-age-question-among-senate-democrats|access-date=2020-12-10|magazine=The New Yorker|language=en-us}}</ref>

In 2021, the average age of a senator was 64,<ref>{{cite web |last1=Manning |first1=Jennifer |title=Membership of the 117th Congress: A Profile |url=https://crsreports.congress.gov/product/pdf/R/R46705 |publisher=Congressional Research Service |access-date=25 March 2021}}</ref> and positions of power within the legislatures — such as chairmanships of various committees — are usually bestowed upon the [[seniority|more experienced]], that is, older, members of the legislature. [[Strom Thurmond]], a U.S. senator from [[South Carolina]], left office at age 100 after almost half a century in the body, while [[Robert Byrd]] of [[West Virginia]] was born in 1917 and served in the Senate from 1959 to his death in 2010 at age 92. Both Thurmond and Byrd had served as [[President pro tempore of the United States Senate|president pro tempore of the Senate]], a position that is third in the [[United States presidential line of succession|presidential line of succession]]. Senators under the age of 40 are extremely uncommon.{{citation needed|date=August 2023}}

===Theocracy===
Gerontocracy is common in [[theocratic]] states and religious organizations such as [[Iran]], [[Saudi Arabia]], the [[Holy See|Vatican]] and [[the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints]], in which leadership is concentrated in the hands of [[elder (Christianity)|religious elder]]s. Despite the age of the senior religious leaders, however, parliamentary candidates in Iran must be under 75. Nominally a theocratic monarchy, Saudi Arabia, likened to various late communist states, has been ruled by gerontocrats. Aged king Saud and his aged relatives held rule along with many elder clerics. They were in their eighties (born c. 1930).<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.aljazeera.com/indepth/opinion/2011/10/2011102673844479817.html|title=Saudi Arabia's old regime grows older|first=Mai|last=Yamani|website=www.aljazeera.com}}</ref> Recently, however, power has become concentrated by [[Mohammed bin Salman]]–31 years old when he became [[crown prince of Saudi Arabia]] in 2017–who has sidelined powerful, older members of the Saudi family.{{citation needed|date=August 2023}}

===Stateless societies===
In Kenya, [[Samburu people|Samburu]] society is said to be a gerontocracy. The power of elders is linked to the belief in their curse, underpinning their monopoly over arranging marriages and taking on further wives. This is at the expense of unmarried younger men, whose development up to the age of thirty is in a state of social suspension, prolonging their adolescent status. The paradox of Samburu gerontocracy is that popular attention focuses on the glamour and deviant activities of these footloose bachelors, which extend to a form of gang warfare, widespread suspicions of adultery with the wives of older men, and theft of their stock.<ref>Paul Spencer, ''The Samburu: a Study of Gerontocracy in a Nomadic Tribe'', Routledge and Kegan Paul, London, 1965 {{ISBN|978-0-415-31725-2}}</ref>

African societies such as this are known for their gerontocratic hierarchies. The [[Yoruba people]], for example, are led by titled elders known as [[Oba (ruler)|Oba]]s and [[Oloye]]s. Although not an explicit requirement, most of them are decidedly elderly due to a variety of factors.{{citation needed|date=August 2023}}

[[American Indian elder]]s and [[Australian Aboriginal elder]]s are traditional figures of wisdom and authority in many Native American and Aboriginal cultures.{{citation needed|date=August 2023}}

===Other countries===
The [[Roman Republic]] was originally an example; the word ''senate'' is related to the [[Latin]] word ''senex'', meaning "old man". [[Cicero]] wrote: "They wouldn't make use of running or jumping or spears from afar or swords up close, but rather wisdom, reasoning, and thought, which, if they weren't in old men, our ancestors wouldn't have called the highest council the senate."<ref>''Nec enim excursione nec saltu nec eminus hastis aut comminus gladiis uteretur, sed consilio, ratione, sententia; quae nisi essent in senibus, non-summum consilium maiores nostri appellassent senatum.'' [[De Senectute]], I.16</ref>

In the Indian state of [[Tamil Nadu]], the government headed by 87-year-old state chief minister [[M. Karunanidhi]] was another example of gerontocracy. In another Indian state, West Bengal, [[Jyoti Basu]] was 86 years old when he stepped down from the office of chief minister of the state, but he continued to remain a member of the [[Polit Bureau of the Communist Party of India (Marxist)|Polit Bureau]] until a few months before his death in 2010 and was consulted on all matters related to governance by the chief minister and his cabinet as well as his other party colleagues.{{citation needed|date=August 2023}}

Present-day Italy is often considered a gerontocracy,<ref name="autogenerated1">{{cite news|author=Gunilla von Hall |url=http://www.svd.se/nyheter/utrikes/ung-ilska-mot-italiens-politiska-dinosaurier_6887573.svd |title=Ung ilska mot Italiens politiska dinosaurier | Utrikes | SvD |newspaper=Svenska Dagbladet |language=sv |publisher=Svd.se |date=28 February 2012 |access-date=5 January 2014}}</ref> even in the internal Italian debate.<ref name="repubblicail">{{cite web|url=http://espresso.repubblica.it/dettaglio/il-parlamento-italiano-maschio-e-di-mezza-eta/2159841 |title=Il Parlamento italiano? Maschio e di mezza età |language=it |publisher=Espresso.repubblica.it |access-date=5 January 2014}}</ref><ref name="lastampa1">{{cite web|url=http://www.lastampa.it/2012/05/17/italia/politica/abbiamo-i-potenti-piu-vecchi-d-europapolitici-e-manager-sfiorano-i-anni-bvZs8WQYLtO40axUjOYsoJ/pagina.html |title=La Stampa - Abbiamo i potenti più vecchi d'EuropaPolitici e manager sfiorano i 60 anni |language=it |publisher=Lastampa.it |date=17 May 2012 |access-date=5 January 2014}}</ref> The Monti government had the highest average age in the western world at 64 years, with its youngest members being 57. Former Italian prime minister [[Mario Monti]] was 70 when he left office. His immediate predecessor, [[Silvio Berlusconi]], was 75 at the time of resignation in 2011. The previous head of the government [[Romano Prodi]] was nearly 69 when he stepped down in 2008. Former Italian president [[Sergio Mattarella]] was {{age|1941|7|23}}, while his predecessors [[Giorgio Napolitano]] and [[Carlo Azeglio Ciampi]] were 89 and 85 respectively. This trend seems to have been reversed,{{or|date=August 2023}} with [[Matteo Renzi]] becoming prime minister at age 39 in 2014, and [[Giorgia Meloni]] assuming office at age 45 in 2022. In 2013, the youngest among the candidates for prime minister, [[Pier Luigi Bersani]], was 62, the others being 70 and 78. The current{{as of?|date=July 2022}} average age of Italian university professors is 63, of bank directors and chief executive officers 67, of members of parliament 56, and of labor union representatives 59.<ref name="autogenerated1"/><ref name="repubblicail"/><ref name="lastampa1"/><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.senato.it/leg/16/BGT/Schede_v3/Statistiche/Composizione/Copertina.html |title=Distribuzione dei Senatori per fasce di età e per sesso |language=it |publisher=senato.it |access-date=5 January 2014}}</ref>

Modern [[Japan]] has been described as a gerontocracy (or "silver democracy") and "generationally unjust, partially a product of the country's severely [[ageing population]]."<ref>{{cite web|url=https://asiancenturyinstitute.com/society/980-japan-s-silver-democracy/|title=JAPAN'S SILVER DEMOCRACY|publisher=Asian Century Institute|date=5 October 2015|access-date=11 July 2023}}</ref>

In [[Medieval England]], [[alderman|aldermen]] (literally "elder men") were local political leaders second to a mayor. The title is still used in some countries colonized by the [[British Empire]], such as the U.S., [[Canada]], [[Australia]] and [[South Africa]].{{citation needed|date=August 2023}}

==Organizational examples==
{{unreferenced section|date=March 2011}}
Outside the political sphere, gerontocracy may be observed in other institutional hierarchies of various kinds. Generally the mark of a gerontocracy is the presence of a substantial number of [[septuagenarian]] or [[octogenarian]] leaders—those younger than this are too young for the label to be appropriate, while those older than this have generally been too few in number to dominate the leadership. The rare [[centenarian]] who has retained a position of power is generally by far the oldest in the hierarchy.

Gerontocracy generally occurs as a phase in the development of an entity, rather than being part of it throughout its existence. Opposition to gerontocracy may cause weakening or elimination of this characteristic by instituting things like term limits or [[mandatory retirement age]]s.

Judges of the United States courts, for example, serve for life, but a system of incentives to retire at full pay after a given age and disqualification from leadership has been instituted. The [[International Olympic Committee]] instituted a mandatory retirement age in 1965, and [[Pope Paul VI]] removed the right of [[Cardinal (Catholic Church)|cardinal]]s to vote for a new [[pope]] once they reached the age of 80, which was to limit the number of cardinals that would vote for the new Pope, due to the proliferation of cardinals that was occurring at the time and is continuing to occur.

Gerontocracy may emerge in an institution not initially known for it.

==See also==
*[[Ageism]]
*[[Cronyism]]
*[[Gerontophobia]]
*[[Lists of state leaders by age]]

== References ==
{{Reflist}}

{{Clear}}
{{Youth empowerment}}
{{Authority control}}

[[Category:Ageing]]
[[Category:Oligarchy]]
[[Category:Political systems]]

Gerontocracy - Revision history

Ajay Kumar at 20:35, 30 August 2023