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 …

A growing body of literature shows that voters tend to vote for candidates who share their
own socio-demographic profile. A key reason for this is because they believe those …

Officeholders in contemporary parliaments and cabinets are more likely than not to be male,
wealthy, middle-aged or older, and from the dominant ethnicity, whereas young adults have …

This article conceptualizes the relative absence of youth in legislatures, a feature we
perceive as a democratic deficit with detrimental consequences. It introduces a new …

This political climate persists today, although younger generations are trying to shift the
narrative battlegrounds. As discussed in chapter 4, the dominance of the two-party system …

On average, members of Congress are significantly older than the constituents they
represent, while young people remain under-represented in elected office. Is this because …

Political scientists have demonstrated the importance of lawmakers' identities, showing that
race, gender, socioeconomic status, and sexual orientation affect legislative and …

Objective The descriptive representation literature has found that individuals prefer to vote
for candidates who share similar characteristics as themselves. However, the relationship …

Recent elections around the world have seen young voters come out in large numbers to
support young leaders running for office, such as New Zealand's Jacinda Ardern in October …

Young people are underrepresented in most political institutions. While studies have
investigated the causes behind the shortage of young politicians, there is a lack of research …