Gerontocracy

noun (countable and uncountable)

/ˌdʒɛrənˈtɒkrəsi/

A form of social or political governance in which power is held by the eldest members of a group, community, or state. In anthropology, gerontocracy is common in traditional tribal societies where elders hold ritual and judicial authority (e.g., the gram sabha of traditional panchayats). In contemporary political science, the term is applied critically to polities where aged leadership impedes institutional renewal — a concern raised in debates about India's political class aging.

✍️ Usage in a UPSC answer

Critics of the Congress Working Committee's decision-making structure in the 1980s argued that it exhibited gerontocratic tendencies, with an ageing leadership resistant to younger voices on economic liberalisation.

Synonyms

elder ruleseniocracyrule by eldersold-boys' network (informal)

Antonyms

meritocracyyouth governancedemocracy (in principle)technocracy

🌱 Word Family

gerontocrat (noun), gerontocratic (adjective), gerontology (related noun, study of ageing), gerontocratical (adjective, rare)

🔡 Root

Greek gerōn (genitive gerontos) = old man, elder + -kratia = rule, power; literally 'rule by old men'

📜 Etymology

From Greek gerontokratia, composed of gerōn (old man, elder — the same root as 'gerontology') and kratein (to rule). The word entered English in the early 19th century. In classical Athens, the Spartan Gerousia (council of elders, men over 60) was the archetypal gerontocratic institution. The term gained sociological precision through 20th-century anthropological studies of age-grade systems in African and Indigenous societies.

🧠 Memory Hook

GERONTO = old (same root as gerontology — the study of old age). CRACY = rule (same as in democracy, bureaucracy). So GERONTOCRACY = rule by the OLD. A helpful image: a council of grey-haired elders sitting in judgment — GERON-to-CRACY, from grey hair to gavel.

👥 Society 📖 Seen in: Salient Features of Indian Society — D...

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