GETGOV · Governing elites since the dawn of modern democracy

Ever since humans settled into communities, there have been political classes. A small elite governs, while the majority are governed. Historically, the governing elite has consisted of people from a narrow segment of society, such as aristocrats. However, the rise of democracy may have opened the path to power and changed the incentives of the leader to select governing elites from a broader segment of society. These elites may, in turn, opt for broad-based policies. Nonetheless, many voters today do not think that democracy has delivered on this promise. They indicate that their governments are captured by wealthy elites who do not care about them. So, does democracy result in more representative, diverse, and competent governing elites?Research does not offer a clear answer to this question. GETGOV will make up for this deficit by investigating whether democracy has changed who govern us; and in turn how this impacts the decisions that are made.To do so, it will build an unprecedented database, HistGov. HistGov will provide bibliographic information, such as gender and party affiliation, on individual governing elites globally from 1789 and onward. The project will break new theoretical ground by developing a model of how democratisation changes who governs us. An underlying notion is that democracy makes governing elites look more like the people they govern. Next, the project will use the new database to investigate whether more representative, diverse, and competent elites provide broad-based policies such as mass primary education and better outcomes such as economic growth.This much-needed project will significantly improve our understanding of governing elites. We will know who they are, both historically and up to the present day. Furthermore, it will improve our understanding of why specific people govern us and how they impact our world. This is of pivotal importance in a world where many people feel that their political elites have failed them.