Political Sociology of Population Aging

Abstract
Aging population is the product of population transition in which fertility and mortality decrease from high to low levels. The proportion of elderly people in the population is increasing and the number of young people is decreasing. The dimensions and consequences of this issue, despite the fact that in social sciences, such as; The economics of population aging, psychology of aging, sociology of aging, etc. have been analyzed and evaluated, but this issue has not been paid much attention by sociologists and political thinkers. Based on this, the present research aims to theorize the effects and consequences of this issue from the perspective of political sociology in the form of the theory of non-commitment. In this regard, what effects does the aging of the population have, for example, on the political behavior of citizens or their electoral tendencies or on their political demands from the government; Or what effects and consequences the aging of leaders, politicians and decision-makers will have on the behavior and performance of governments, in the future of policy-making, will be analyzed and analyzed. Demographic trends on the issue of aging confirm the fact that both current conditions and future trends of population aging are related to politics and power. In this research, with the aim of explaining and analyzing the subject and in order to obtain the required information, library data and documents have been used, and the method used in this research is analytical-descriptive.
Keywords: Aging, sociology of aging, population aging, political sociology, lack of commitment.
 
1. Introduction
The analysis of the age structure of the population, which is considered the main interest of demographers, is not well understood by sociologists and political thinkers, and therefore it is necessary that, along with various social sciences that understand new dimensions of this phenomenon day by day. Political sociology should also pay serious attention to this issue through the lens of its epistemological foundations and especially evaluate and analyze the consequences of population aging from the perspective of this science. In this regard, in this research, an attempt is made to investigate and study the problem of population aging (without considering a specific country) theoretically, from the perspective of political sociology, and to be able to examine the problem of population aging from a new perspective and attitude. slow, and evaluate and analyze the determining dimensions and consequences of this issue on various aspects of social and political life. Based on this, the present research will try to examine the effects and consequences of this issue from the perspective of political sociology. What effects does the aging of the population have on the political behavior of citizens or their electoral tendencies or on their political demands from the government? Or what effects and consequences will the aging of leaders, politicians and decision makers have on the behavior and performance of governments. The results of the article show that the aging population, from the perspective of political sociology, has caused a decrease in the level of political activities and civil participation of citizens and pushes their demands from the political spheres to the spheres of welfare and health and social security. On the other hand, aging in the field of political leaders and politicians causes the reduction of aggressive and radical policies and the slowing down of fast and fundamental changes and causes a kind of conservative tendencies and behaviors in politics. Therefore, demographic trends on the issue of aging confirm the fact that both current conditions and future trends of population aging are related to politics and power.
 
2.Materials and Methods
According to the nature of the subject and research objectives and in order to obtain the required information and collect the materials, library data and documents have been used, based on various researches and researches conducted in the field of sociology of aging, psychology of population aging and old age, To study the phenomenon of population aging from the perspective of political sociology with a forward-looking perspective. The type of research is also applied and developmental. The method used in this research is analytical and explanatory and based on interdisciplinary studies (i.e. the combination of sociology, psychology and political science) and tries to theoretically analyze the issue of population aging from the perspective of political sociology. examine and analyze its dimensions and consequences from this aspect.
 
3. Discussion
3-1. Political sociology of population aging
In this article the consequences and effects of population aging will be analyzed and investigated from the perspective of political sociology and with the theoretical framework of non-commitment. First, the political sociology of aging people and then the political sociology of aging politicians and political leaders will be discussed.
3.1.1. Political sociology of aging people
In the aging society, since the elderly make up a significant percentage of the country’s population and the weight of this population group increases over time compared to other population groups and their role in political developments will increase with the increase of their proportion in the population. Among the most important issues in this field, the political attitude of the voters - young and old - towards the age of the election candidate, the political priorities of the voters (young and old), the reduction of the political participation of the elderly population, the reduction of social capital in the elderly society and the reduction of society’s institutions Madani is an old man in society.
 
3.1.2. Political sociology of the aging of rulers and political leaders
Along with the general aging of the workforce, one consequence of an aging world is that more leadership positions are held by older people than ever before. Psychological research has shown that older leaders have distinct characteristics compared to younger leaders. Therefore, this important includes things such as; Gerontocracy (the government of the elderly or gerontology), the influence of age and leadership in political systems, the expansion of conservatism of political leaders and away from the policies of rapid and fundamental changes, the aging of leaders and the reduction of international conflicts and the change of priorities towards the expansion of welfare policies.
 
4. Conclusion
The changes that older people face physically and mentally create different conditions that the non-commitment strategy refers to as active non-engagement. A situation that leads to a decrease in the amount of political participation, a decrease in social capital, a decrease in civil society institutions, and a decrease in political conflicts in the elderly society, because the elderly, in accordance with the strategy of non-commitment in the last years of life, gradually reduce their social connections with society and others. Data and at the same time the society also mutually separates the individual through the rational-legal requirements of the job system, changing the nature of the family, etc. As a result, elderly people reduce their activity level, look for more passive roles, and therefore the interaction of the elderly person in the social system, to which he belongs, decreases. Another consequence of the aging of the society is the change in the priorities, attitude and behavior of people regarding political issues, which are affected by the aging, needs and psychological and physiological changes of this period. Therefore, as examined, the electoral behavior of voters, voting patterns and political preferences of voters will be different in the old society. From the point of view of non-commitment theory, the important consequences of this change in behavior, priority and political attitude, in addition to the movement of the society towards conservatism and the reduction of the tendency to accept innovation and reforms in the society, are the management of leadership positions by older people more than ever before. Elderly political leaders whose physical and cognitive abilities have decreased due to old age and can have consequences such as the spread of gerontocracy, the spread of conservatism and away from the policies of quick and fundamental changes, the change of priorities towards the expansion of welfare policies, the reduction of international conflicts and the reduction of political ambitions. To have together older leaders tend to behave more ideologically than strategically while in office.