# Introduction
Understanding who rules the world requires insight into the composition of its political leadership class.
## The Global Leadership Project Dataset
This groundbreaking dataset offers comprehensive biographical details on international leaders across multiple countries worldwide.
## Identifying Political Leaders Worldwide
Using advanced latent class analysis techniques applied to this extensive database,
we discovered distinct typologies characterizing global elites based on various dimensions:
* Education, Experience & Background Variables
- Different patterns emerge for heads of state versus executives/governors
- Significant regional variations exist across Africa, Asia-Pacific, and Latin America
- Leaders from different political systems (democracies vs. autocracies) show distinct profiles too
- Patterns vary considerably between developed and developing nations
## What This Means For Research & Policy
This new portrait helps explain:
* Why certain leadership styles dominate specific international regions
* How particular policy approaches correlate with elite backgrounds
* Potential connections between leader characteristics and institutional outcomes in the global arena
The findings demonstrate that political power worldwide is not distributed homogeneously among leaders across countries.
### Methodological Approach
Our novel analysis employed:
* Latent class modeling techniques to identify underlying typologies
* Variables including education, experience, party affiliation & wealth indicators
* Cross-national comparison spanning diverse regions and development levels
### Implications for Political Science Research
This research fundamentally changes our understanding of global politics.
By establishing a clearer picture of who actually constitutes the ruling class worldwide,
it opens new avenues to examine:
* How elite characteristics influence international relations outcomes
* Potential universal patterns in political leadership behaviors across nations
* Whether democratic transitions might be linked to specific types of leaders
