Gerontocracy, in its narrowest sense, refers to political systems ruled by elderly people, whether de jure or de facto. Although formal gerontocratic rules are progressively disappearing, contemporary political systems are still governed by individuals who are significantly older than the mean voter. This article reviews existing explanations for the prevalence of gerontocracy. To summarize main findings, gerontocracy cannot be explained by the leadership qualities of older rulers: aging leaders do not perform better in office and voters seem to be aware of it. Instead, existing research suggests that gerontocracy can be explained by strategic considerations. In autocracies, the selectorate tends to choose aging leaders in order to reduce their expected tenure length. In democracies, voters are more likely to select experienced candidates, which they expect to be more effective at advancing the interests of their constituency: this premium put on experience mechanically lengthens political careers and increases the age of the average politician. Finally, older voters, which participate more in politics, tend to prefer older politicians, because they (correctly) expect them to better defend their own interests.

中文翻译：

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比较中的老年政：解释为什么政治领导人（几乎总是）比其选民年龄大

从最狭义的意义上讲，老年民主是指由老年人统治的政治制度，无论是法律上的还是事实上的。尽管正式的老年人统治规则逐渐消失，但当代的政治体系仍然由比平均选民年龄大得多的个人统治。本文回顾了对老年病流行的现有解释。总结主要发现，老年统治者的领导才能不能解释老年人政：老龄领导者的任职表现并不好，而选民似乎也意识到这一点。取而代之的是，现有研究表明，可以通过战略性考虑来解释老年人口管理。在专制政体中，选择者倾向于选择老龄化领导者，以减少他们的预期任期长度。在民主国家，选民更有可能选择经验丰富的候选人，他们期望在促进选民利益方面更加有效：这种经验上的溢价机械地延长了政治生涯，并延长了普通政客的年龄。最后，更多参与政治活动的年长选民倾向于年长的政客，因为他们（正确地）期望他们能够更好地捍卫自己的利益。