In order to gain power, one is forced to campaign on the issues, not charisma or attack ads. The only route to power is voting for what you believe future Americans would like, and then convincing them to like it. In that sense, while democracy is rule by the people of the present, histocracy is rule by the people of the future (two years into the future, anyway). It creates a hierarchy, but power is based on competence, not heredity or military force. If competence in a Histocratic Republic follows a bell curve, so does power. If it follows a pyramid hierarchy, so does power. If everyone is equally competent, it favors the elders, who have had more time to gain votes and who will likely maintain the status quo. If everyone is equally incompetent, it favors youth, who have had less time to lose votes and are likely to promote change.
It is a capitalism of power: in open, level competition, the best rise to the top.