But Italy's gerontocracy, he adds, is a symptom, not the cause, of the country's malaise.

BBC: Little fresh on Italian election menu

In a society which does not revere age and experience, these letters make a compelling case for gerontocracy.

ECONOMIST: The letters of Sir John Gielgud: Of plays and play | The

The 266th pope will inherit a gerontocracy obsessed with turf and Italian politics, uninterested in basic management practices and hostile to reforms.

FORBES: Don't Expect Pope Francis To Change The Vatican Anytime Soon

It is easy to be gloomy about the idea of a gerontocracy seizing power in the European Union, a place already struggling to stay competitive.

ECONOMIST: Charlemagne

Sunday's Italian press lauds the fact that the new ministers' average age is only 53, in what has come to be seen by voters as a tired gerontocracy.

BBC: Optimism greets Italy's grand coalition

My apprehension about enacting policies that will improve economic conditions on the island is that they will only serve to strengthen the white, male gerontocracy's grip on power.

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India's governments have been traditionally dominated by elderly politicians, prompting critics to jest that the country, where half the population is under 25 years of age, is really a gerontocracy.

BBC: What does the India government reshuffle mean?

Among smart Russians in their 20s, there was a mood of wild, intoxicating exhilaration as they revelled in the downfall of an oafish gerontocracy, made money and enjoyed spending it.

ECONOMIST: Observing Russia