World Leaders Skewing Older --- Boomers retain power as autocrats firm grip, barriers rise in democracies

"It is a golden age for politicians in their golden years -- and not just in the U.S.

A decade ago, just one of the world's 10 most populous countries, India, had a leader who was 70 or older. Today, eight of them do, putting at least half the global population in the hands of people in their 70s and 80s.

The two countries that don't -- Indonesia and Pakistan -- are also poised to have septuagenarians at the helm after elections this month.

The corridors of power looked significantly less gray in February 2014. Barack Obama, at the relatively spry age of 52, occupied the White House. China's Xi Jinping and Russia's Vladimir Putin were in their early 60s. Enrique Pena Nieto in Mexico was a youthful 47.

What is behind the boom in boomer presidents and prime ministers? A multitude of reasons.

Autocrats have deepened their grip on power. Xi began a norm-breaking third term as Communist Party chief in 2022, when he was 69 years old. Putin, who rose to the pinnacle of authority in Russia when he was 47, remains there nearly 25 years later, sweeping away resistance to his rule. One of his staunchest challengers, Alexei Navalny, died in prison this month at 47.

Barriers to entry have also grown in democracies, where winning elections requires ever-larger pots of money, giving established politicians with well-oiled donor networks the upper hand. 

India's Narendra Modi is widely expected to cruise to a third term this year at 73. Sheikh Hasina, 76, won an unprecedented fifth term as prime minister of Bangladesh in January and, after cracking down on the opposition, is in her 16th consecutive year in office.

In mid-February, Indonesia catapulted a 72-year-old member of the entrenched political elite to the top job. He is set to succeed President Joko Widodo, the former furniture maker and small-city mayor whose landmark 2014 election, when he was 53, infused the world's third-largest democracy with new hope.

"Across the world there are many places that have high barriers to entry for new parties and for new politicians, whether they're democratic or not," said Ben Bland, director of the Asia-Pacific program at Chatham House, a U.K. think tank. "It's pretty depressing seeing so few younger leaders and fresh ideas emerge everywhere given the scale of challenges we're facing and the pace at which our world is changing."

In America, the question of "How old is too old?" is looming over the presidential election. Most voters say they would prefer a president below 70 years of age, according to a 2023 survey by the Pew Research Center. Many are concerned that poor health could be a stumbling block for 81-year-old President Biden or 77-year-old Donald Trump.

Europe, whose population is older than the U.S., is bucking the trend of senior leaders. Its parliamentary democracies allow more room for younger politicians to find their feet, like Italy's right-wing prime minister, Giorgia Meloni, who became her country's first female leader in 2022 when she was 45. President Volodymyr Zelensky, leading Ukraine's war effort, is 46.

Older leaders cast their advanced age as an asset at a time when the war in Gaza and great-power rivalry between the U.S. and China are changing the world order.

The five-dimensional chess of world diplomacy needs experience, their supporters argue.

On the flip side, many people question if presidents and prime ministers of an older generation can lead a 21st-century world being rapidly redefined by artificial intelligence and climate change.

Political scientists worry young people will disengage from politics if they feel they are stuck with politicians of their grandparents' generation.

Research from Japan and Germany shows that younger municipal leaders tend to direct more spending toward issues that affect the young.

But in many parts of the world, septuagenarians are leading delicate conversations with the youth about topics like the long-term impact of global warming or the need for more babies.

Some older politicians are trying to bridge the age divide. Biden, born during World War II, joined TikTok this month with a video about the Super Bowl captioned "lol hey guys." Prabowo Subianto, the 72-year-old former general who won in Indonesia's mid-February presidential elections, cuddled his cat on Instagram and broke into jigs on the campaign trail that went viral.

Young people should buckle up for more boomer leaders, said Kevin Munger, assistant professor of political science at Pennsylvania State University. "It's going to change when they age out of politics in 10 to 15 years," he said, "but really not before then."" [1]

Sometimes young can be stupid. President of France E. Macron (46) is trying to start a nuclear World War III after which human species would go extinct. 

1. World News: World Leaders Skewing Older --- Boomers retain power as autocrats firm grip, barriers rise in democracies. Emont, Jon.  Wall Street Journal, Eastern edition; New York, N.Y.. 29 Feb 2024: A.9.