Gerontocracy

A gerontocracy is a form of rule in which a political entity is ruled by leaders who are substantially older than most of the population. In many political structures, power within the ruling class accumulates with age, making the oldest individuals the most powerful. Those holding the most power may not be in formal leadership positions, but often dominate those who are. In simple terms, a gerontocracy is a society in which power is reserved for elders.

The idea of the elderly holding power exists in many cultures, with African gerontocracy having its roots in West Africa, and it is still being practiced by Amedokhian people and many other Esan communities. 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 the Gerousia, a council made up of members who were at least 60 years old and who served for life.

In democracies, gerontocracy is associated with a higher voter turnout with age and can result in disproportionate pension spending.

In political systems

Africa

Reporting on the then 92-year-old Paul Biya's campaign for an eighth term as president of Cameroon, NPR noted a high rate of elderly heads of state across Africa, including Peter Mutharika of Malawi, Yoweri Museveni of Uganda, Alassane Ouattara of the Ivory Coast, Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasogo of Equatorial Guinea and Emmerson Mnangagwa of Zimbabwe. Mutharika was then 85 years old and Museveni was 81, while the latter three were all 83. Biya himself was the oldest incumbent head of state in the world.

Communist states

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.

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.

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, NPCSC Chairman Zhu De died in office at the age of 89, his successors left office at 86 and 85, and acting state Chairman Dong Biwu was at the age of 88 when his office was abolished.

Soviet Union

Leonid Brezhnev (then 72; right) and Dmitry Ustinov (then 71; left) at the 1979 Revolution Day Parade

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,