In 2055 people will on average be old. 20 percent of the population will be over 65.(1) Today 85 percent of the over 65 population is white, while 35 percent of the under 18 populationare minorities. �By 2025, nearly 47 percent of American children will be African-American, Hispanic or Asian.

We can safely say that in theory the government is run by the society and in the best interests of the society. So who has the real power in the government? The president�s power has been increasing rapidly.(cite) How will this change in the future?

Generally in times of crisis the people rally around, or follow a leader, any leader, look at FDR, or Bush�s approval rating, or Guiliani�s popularity, or Lenin, or Stalin, or Hitler. The point is that there is going to be a big recession in the economy. People are going to out of work. The government is going to be taking care of the people. It�s going to be putting high taxes on working class people.

The government will want to strengthen its power to find out about people�s lives. The patriot act is only one part of the process. Increasing immigration and the need for immigrants for unskilled labor on farms means that more measure�s will need to be put in place to keep track of people. Actually farming relies heavily on illegal immigrants, and an increase in people tracking will reduce the supply of labor, causing price inflation.

Change is also coming for state and other local governments. State governments are having trouble balancing their budgets, mostly because of programs like education, prison, and medical care.(2) The ability of state governments to raise money is completely different from the federal government�s. States cannot run deficits. They must either cut spending, raise taxes, or get funds from the federal government.

In 2055 there will be a recession(3) because of oil prices substantially increasing, because of a decrease in supply(4). Due to recession local and state governments have to compensate by spending less or raising taxes. In 2055 there will be minimal services offered by local and state governments. The majority of state spending will be on medicare, and education. Education from K-12, and very little spending on college education.

The fact that older people are more likely to vote(5) means that government policies will probably be more geared towards them. Also people who have lived in the country longer were more likely to vote. This means that the government will not care as much for younger workers and will use them to pay for the aging population.

In 2055 the government will have more minority members. The supreme court will be completely different from today. All the judges on it today will be dead, and replaced, they won�t live till 2055. Historically the supreme court has always represented the older generation in the country simply because one has to be older to be on it.