Gerontocracy

A gerontocracy is a form of rule in which an entity is ruled by leaders who are substantially 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.

Background

Although the idea of the elderly holding power exists in many cultures, the gerontocracy has its western roots in ancient Greece. Plato stated that "it is for the elder man to rule and for the younger to submit". 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.

In political systems

China

Between 1982 and 1992, the Central Advisory Commission's power and authority often surpassed the Politburo Standing Committee 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", as CMC chairman Deng Xiaoping did not retire until the age of 85 after forcing his predecessor Hua Guofeng to retire at age 60. Also, before that, CCP Chairman Mao Zedong died in office at the age of 82.

Soviet Union

In the Soviet Union, gerontocracy became increasingly entrenched starting in the 1970s; it was prevalent in the country until at least 1985, when a more dynamic and younger, ambitious leadership headed by Mikhail Gorbachev took power. Leonid Brezhnev, its foremost representative, 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. His premier, Alexei Kosygin, was 76 when he resigned in October 1980, by which time he was very ill and two months short of his death.

In 1980, the average Politburo member — generally a young survivor of the Great Purge who rose 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 (who succeeded Kosygin), were all in their mid-to-late seventies, and his first vice president, Vasily Kuznetsov, was already in his eighties. Yuri Andropov, Brezhnev's 68-year-old successor, was seriously ill with kidney disease when he took over, 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?"

Communist states

Other communist countries with leaders in their seventies or higher have included:
*Albania (First Secretary Enver Hoxha was 76 at death)
*Bulgaria (General Secretary Todor Zhivkov was 78 at resignation)
*Czechoslovakia (President Gustáv Husák was 76 at resignation)
*East Germany (almost every head of the Socialist Unity Party of Germany was at or above the age of 70 when their tenure ended)
*Hungary (General Secretary János Kádár was 75 when forced out)
*Laos (every former president was above the age of 70 when their tenure ended, while incumbent president Thongloun Sisoulith was 75 upon taking office)
*North Korea (Supreme Leaders Kim Il Sung and Kim Jong Il were respectively 82 and 70 at death)
*Romania (General Secretary and Conducător Nicolae Ceauşescu was 71 when executed)
*Somalia (President Siad Barre was 71 when overthrown)
*Vietnam (President Ho Chi Minh and General Secretary Lê Duẩn were both 79 at death, while General Secretary Nguyễn Phú Trọng was 80 at death, having also been president until age 76. For General Secretaries that survived their term, the vast majority of them retired in their seventies or higher.)
*Yugoslavia (President and Marshal Josip Broz Tito was 87 at death)

On the sub-national level, Georgia's party head, Vasil Mzhavanadze, was 70 when forced out and his 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. 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.

United States

The observation of gerontocracy in the United States has been a subject of frequent criticism.

Presidency

Under presidents Donald Trump and Joe Biden, the U.S. government has been described as a gerontocracy. At 70, Trump was the oldest person ever to be inaugurated president, until the inauguration of Biden at the age of 78 years and two months. After his second inauguration, Trump was again the oldest person inaugurated as president, at 78 years, seven months, and six days old.

Biden's age was a subject of concern during his presidency and especially his reelection campaign, culminating in his withdrawal on July 21, 2024. Biden served as the oldest president at the end of his tenure, beating Ronald Reagan's record of 77; he was 82 years and two months old by the end of his term in 2025, making him the first president to turn 80 while in office. Trump will be the new record holder if he survives to the end of his second term, at 82 years, seven months, and six days old.

Congress

Nancy Pelosi, the speaker of the House of Representatives from 2019 to 2023, and Mitch McConnell, the Senate majority leader from 2015 to 2021, were both the oldest holders of their offices in U.S. history. At 87 years old in 2020, senators Dianne Feinstein and Chuck Grassley were both the oldest members of Congress. Feinstein ultimately died in office three years later at the age of 90.

In 2021, the average age of a senator was 64, and positions of power within the legislatures — such as chairmanships of various committees — are usually bestowed upon the 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 Senate, a position that is third in the presidential line of succession and is now held by Chuck Grassley (born 1933).

On December 20, 2024, conservative news website '' Dallas Express'' published an article titled "Where Is Congresswoman Kay Granger?", in reference to the Republican congresswoman from Texas. Granger was 81 years old at the time of publishing and had not voted in the House since July 24, 2024; she was seldom seen in public but did attend a portrait-unveiling ceremony honoring her time on the House Appropriations Committee in November. Granger was reported to have been living in an assisted living facility due to cognitive decline and her son confirmed she had "dementia issues." Granger had previously confirmed in 2023 that she would not run for re-election in 2024 and stepped down from her role as Appropriations Chair on April 10, 2024.

Theocracy

States and religious organizations such as Iran, Saudi Arabia, the Vatican and the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, in which leadership is concentrated in the hands of religious elders can be considered gerontocracies. In Iran, parliamentary candidates must be under 75, despite the age of the senior religious leaders. Saudi Arabia, nominally a theocratic monarchy, has been likened to various late communist states, 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). Since 2017, however, power has become concentrated by Mohammed bin Salman–31 years old at the time when he became crown prince of Saudi Arabia. MBS, as his name is often abbreviated, has sidelined powerful, older members of the Saudi family.

Stateless societies

In Kenya, 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.

American Indian elders and Australian Aboriginal elders are traditional figures of wisdom and authority in many Native American and Aboriginal cultures.

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."

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, CPI(M) founder Jyoti Basu was 86 years old when he stepped down from the office of chief minister of the state after a record-setting 24 years of office, but he continued to remain a member of the Polit Bureau until a few months before his death in 2010 and was consulted on all matters related to governance by his successor and his cabinet as well as his other party colleagues.

Present-day Italy is often considered a gerontocracy, even in the internal Italian debate. 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. Italian president Sergio Mattarella is , while his predecessors Giorgio Napolitano and Carlo Azeglio Ciampi were 89 and 85 respectively when they left office. This trend has been disrupted in recent years, with Matteo Renzi becoming prime minister at age 39 in 2014, and Giorgia Meloni assuming the office at age 45 in 2022. As of 2014, the 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.

Modern Japan has been described as a gerontocracy (or "silver democracy") and "generationally unjust, partially a product of the country's severely ageing population."

In Medieval England, 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.

During the 2010–2012 Arab Spring, every state in North Africa which experienced a revolution had a leader in their late sixties or older: Zine El Abidine Ben Ali of Tunisia (who had ousted 84-year-old Habib Bourgiba in 1987) was 74 when forced out; Hosni Mubarak of Egypt was 82 when forced out; and Muammar Gaddafi was 69 when assassinated. Additionally, during the Second Arab Spring in North Africa and West Asia, Abdelaziz Bouteflika of Algeria was 82 when forced out; Hani Mulki of Jordan was 66 when forced out; Adil Abdul-Mahdi of Iraq was 77 when forced out; and Omar al-Bashir of Sudan was 75 when deposed.

In Bangladesh, prime minister Sheikh Hasina was 76 when she was ousted in the non-cooperation movement. In turn, Muhammad Yunus was 84 when he succeeded Hasina. Earlier Bangladeshi heads of state who left office in their 70s or higher include prime minister Ataur Rahman Khan (at 75) and president Iajuddin Ahmed (at 78, having also been Chief Adviser until age 76).

Organizational examples

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 ages.

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 cardinals 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(when Paul died there were 15 cardinals over 80 compared to 114 young enough to be electors
/ref> while when Pope Francis died there were 117 cardinals over 80 compared to 135 young enough to be electors).

Gerontocracy may emerge in an institution not initially known for it.The Ramakrishna Order and Church of Christ (Latter Day Saints) were both founded by young men but soon evolved enduring seniority-based succession systems with the result that in 2025 the successor organizations are led by men born in the 1920s
Swami Gautamananda, its seventh nonagenarian president
and Russell M. Nelson, the first centenarian but eighth man to serve as president past age 90) who did not even accede to the respective presidencies until already in their nineties.

See also

*Ageism
* Age of candidacy
*Bump (union)
*Cronyism
* Gerontophobia
*Intergenerational equity
*Lists of state leaders by age
** List of oldest living state leaders
* Lockstep compensation
*Youth suffrage

Notes

References

Further reading

* Osnos, Evan, "Ruling-Class Rules: How to thrive in the power elite – while declaring it your enemy", ''The New Yorker'', 29 January 2024, pp. 18–23. "In the nineteen-twenties... American elites, some of whom feared a Bolshevik revolution, consented to reform... Under Franklin D. Roosevelt... the U.S. raised taxes, took steps to protect unions, and established a minimum wage. The costs, eterTurchin writes, 'were borne by the American ruling class.'... Between the nineteen-thirties and the nineteen-seventies, a period that scholars call the Great Compression, economic equality narrowed, except among Black Americans... But by the nineteen-eighties the Great Compression was over. As the rich grew richer than ever, they sought to turn their money into political power; spending on politics soared." (p. 22.) " democracy can function well if people are unwilling to lose power – if a generation of leaders... becomes so entrenched that it ages into gerontocracy; if one of two major parties denies the arithmetic of elections; if a cohort of the ruling class loses status that it once enjoyed and sets out to salvage it." (p. 23.)
* O'Toole, Fintan, "Eldest Statesmen", ''The New York Review of Books'', vol. LXXI, no. 1 (18 January 2024), pp. 17–19. " oeBiden's signature achievements as president resecuring large-scale investment in infrastructure and in the transition to a carbon-free economy... ut tere has been a relentless decline in absolute conomicmobility from one generation to the next..." (p. 18.) "With the promised bridge to a new generation as yet unbuilt, time is not on Biden's side, or on the side of American democracy." (p. 19.)

{{Authority control

Ageing
Political systems