BPF Launches the 2025 Better Politics Index

It is the world's first index focused on measuring the support and development of political leaders as key democratic infrastructure.

BPF's Chief Operating Officer, Kimberly McArthur, presenting the Index at the 2025 Better Politics Week.

The Better Politics Foundation is proud to announce the launch of the 2025 Better Politics Index Report, the world’s first index dedicated to measuring how political leaders are developed and supported across democracies.

Every day, political leaders make decisions that affect billions of people. Yet until now, there has been no systematic way to assess whether countries invest in preparing those leaders for the responsibilities they hold. The Better Politics Index was created to address this blind spot.

The imbalance is striking. In the United States alone, around $60 billion is spent each year on corporate leadership training. Globally, we estimate that only $15 million goes to non-partisan political leadership education and development. This is not a marginal gap. It reflects a fundamental oversight in how democracies think about leadership.

Political leadership is core democratic infrastructure. But unlike other fields, it lacks shared standards, consistent data, and basic measurement tools. We do not have a global view of where political leaders receive formal training, how strong those programs are, or whether they produce better outcomes for the public.

The Better Politics Index aims to change that.

The 2025 Index provides an evidence-based starting point for understanding political leadership across countries. It brings together available data to assess both what exists today and what is missing. Just as importantly, it highlights how little attention and funding this area has received.

This inaugural edition covers 10 countries, selected for regional diversity, political systems, democratic strength, population size, and data availability. Countries are examined across four core dimensions offer a structured way to think about how leaders are prepared, supported, and perceived—before, during, and beyond their time in office.

As a first edition, the Index is transparent about its limits. Data gaps are significant—particularly on the quality and outcomes of leadership programs. These gaps are not a failure of the Index; they are one of its key findings.

The full 2025 Better Politics Index Report is now available. We invite you to explore the findings, question the assumptions, and join the conversation about how democracies can better support their leaders—and, in turn, their citizens.