Gerontocracy: Difference between revisions

Current day American government<br>Commonwealth Realms<br>Cameroon}}<blockquote>"It's just a burning memory..." -Al Bowlly</blockquote>'''Gerontocracy''' is a form of [[File:Oligarchy.png]] [[Oligarchy|oligarchical]] rule in which an entity is ruled by leaders who are significantly [[file:Gero.png]] older than most of the adult population. The ancient [[file:Cball-Greece.png]] Greeks were among the first to believe in this idea of gerontocracies; as famously stated by [[file:Platon.png]] [[Noocracy|Plato]] "it is for the elder man to rule and for the younger to submit". However, these beliefs are not unique to ancient [[file:Cball-Greece.png]] Greece, as many cultures still subscribe to this way of thinking. This belief has been very common in ancient[[file:Tribal.png]] [[Tribalism tribal]] communities as the lack of writing meant that people relied on older people to seek knowledge much more frequently.

Often these political structures are such that political power within the ruling class accumulates with age, making the oldest thepeople holdershold ofmore thepower mostthan powerothers. 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.