Search

During the 50 years in which The Gerontologist has been publishing, the politics of aging in the United States has undergone distinct changes. The political behavior of older individuals has remained largely the same even though different birth cohorts have succeeded each other in populating the ranks of older people. But the politics of policies on aging--the organized interest and advocacy groups active in this arena, the tenor of public discourse about older people as beneficiaries of policies on aging, the national political agendas regarding public old-age benefits, and the broader U.S. political economy--have changed substantially over these five decades. Now, in the contexts of the aging of the baby boom and concerns about reducing large federal fiscal deficits (annual and cumulative), the politics of U.S. policies on aging may change considerably from those of yesterday and today. Is there a possibility of future intergenerational political conflict over taxes and expenditures for the major old-age benefit programs? If so, what might prevent or mitigate it? Key Words: Entitlement reform, Generational political conflict, Old-age policies, Politics of aging doi: 10.1093/gerant/gnq056

Purpose: In the 2008 presidential election, a majority of older persons voted for John McCain, the loser. The purposes of this report ate to help illuminate why older voters were the only age-group that gave a majority to McCain and to delineate some ongoing issues in the analysis of older persons' voting behavior. Methods' Analysis was undertaken by mining raw data from the 2008 Edison--Mitofsky national Election Day exit poll, as well as compilations from that poll that were published by various media that finance it. Results: Republican leanings of the Eisenhower birth cohort that is presently among those aged 65 years and older were a factor, whereas the immediately succeeding younger cohorts did not manifest the same partisan predilection. Positive self-identification with the 72-year-old McCain by voters aged 65-74 years seems to have been another factor, although there was no indication of such age identification among those aged 60-64 years and 75 years and older. Race may have been a factor, although all groups of White voters aged 30 years and older gave McCain a substantial majority, whereas the youngest cohort of Whites, aged 18-29 years, favored Obama. Implications' In the study of age-group voting behavior, ongoing attention is needed to cohort and period effects, as well as candidates' contrasting individual characteristics-in addition to possible effects of campaign issues. Key Words: Age-group voting, Elections, Politics of aging, Voting behavior

The use of interventions claiming to prevent, retard, or reverse aging is proliferating. Some of these interventions can seriously harm older persons and aging baby boomers who consume them. Others that are merely ineffective may divert patients from participating in beneficial regimens and also cause them economic harm. 'Free market regulation' does not seem to weed out risky, ineffective, and fraudulent anti-aging treatments and products. Public health messages, apparently, are having little effect. What more can be done to achieve better protection for older consumers? An analysis of the potential for federal and state action reveals many barriers to effective governmental regulation of anti-aging interventions. In view of dim prospects for stronger public regulation, physicians and other professionals--especially geriatricians and gerontologists--will need to be more aggressive in protecting older consumers. In particular, The Gerontological Society of America and the American Geriatrics Society should undertake a sustained program of specific educational efforts, directed at health professionals and the general public, in which they sort out as best they can the helpful, the harmful, the fraudulent, and the harmless anti-aging practices and products. Key Words: Anti-aging, Geriatrics, Gerontology, Government regulation, Professional regulation

Leading members of the gerontological community have recently launched a war on anti-aging medicine, seeking to discredit what they judge to be fraudulent and harmful products and therapies, and to distinguish their research from what they regard as the pseudoscience of the anti-aging movement. This article interprets the contemporary war on anti-aging medicine as largely an attempt by established gerontological researchers to preserve their hard-won scientific and political legitimacy, as well as to maintain and enhance funding for research on the basic biological mechanisms of aging. First, it recounts the difficult struggle of U.S. biogerontologists to join the scientific mainstream in terms of legitimization and public funding. Second, it examines how elements of a contemporary anti-aging movement seem to threaten the hard-won public legitimacy of established gerontological researchers and practitioners. Third, it looks at the 'boundary work' responses of the gerontological community to the anti-aging movement. Finally, it assesses the consequences of the war on anti-aging medicine to date. Key Words: Anti-aging, Biology of aging, Gerontology, Research funding, Science policy

Contemporary politicians and their advisors focus on older voters as a pivotal segment of the American electorate. Some analysts predict that this preoccupation will intensify in the years ahead and the demands of older persons will dominate American politics. One reason for this focus on older voters is that they constitute a substantial proportion of voters today, largely because of age-group differences in voting turnout rates, and they will be a considerably larger proportion in the future because of the aging of the baby boom cohort. This article examines the voting participation of age groups in past presidential elections and explores what the voting participation of older persons could be like when the baby boom cohort reaches old age. The political significance of older persons being a large percentage of voters is considered with respect to both the past and the future.

A review of four books on aging reveals that the books written by biogerontologists turned out to be the worst of the lot. The two books entitled 'The Longevity Strategy' by David Mahoney and Richard Restak and 'The Clock of Ages' by John Medina are both disappointing and do not provide readers with new information on longevity. The book entitled 'Cheating Time: Science, Sex, and Aging' by Roger Gosden is really good while 'Why We Age: What Science Is Discovering About the Body's Journey Through Life' by Steven N. Austad provide a credible account of the evolution of aging.

Aggregate national exit poll data from the 1996 presidential election suggest that voters aged 60 and older were not influenced by age-related policy issues, such as Medicare, any more than younger voters were. Yet, state-level data provide a basis for conjecture (although not a conclusion) that such issues may have influenced the voting decisions of some older voters in 14 states. if so, however, the impact was in Clinton's favor in some states and Dole's favor in others. Now that the election is over, the short-term problem of Medicare Part A will he dealt with swiftly, but a bipartisan commission to deal with the program's long-term issues is problematic. The establishment of such a commission on Social Security is more likely. The President's response to the push by governors and congressional Republicans to turn Medicaid into a Mock grant program will indicate whether he will move at all to the left of the centrist political position that he assumed throughout 1996. Key Words: Age-group voting, Medicaid, Medicare, Older voters, Social Security, Voting behavior

The criteria used in old-age programs is changing although the political feasibility of new suggestions is doubtful. The possible changes include combination of age and economic status as criteria in old-age programs and basing long-term care policy on the need for services and not on age. However the proposal for raising the age of eligibility for the programs will evoke strong opposition from old-age interest groups.

The implications of the elderlies' voting behavior during the 1992 presidential election were analyzed. Older voters are regarded as a potentially important electoral constituency and a formidable force in shaping old age welfare policies. According to the generational equity construct, older Americans exercise self-interested voting power. However this rational self-interest model is flawed and must be applied with caution. A post-election analysis of voting behavior of senior citizens and campaign activites geared towards them is essential in understanding the politics of aging.

For several decades, candidates in U.S. presidential election campaigns have articulated policy issues designed to appeal to older Americans. However, exit-poll data have consistently shown that older people have distributed their votes among presidential candidates in roughly the same proportions as the electorate as a whole, favoring the winner of the popular vote. This happened again in 2004. The percentage of older persons voting for George Bush was slightly more than the national average, suggesting that old-age policy issues are not the predominant factors affecting older voters. Key Words: Age-group voting, Elections, Politics of aging, Voting behavior