From Brazil to Bangladesh, Liberia to Switzerland, Malta to the Marshall Islands, more and more women are rising to the top level of political leadership. What can we learn from this? What kinds of conditions and political institutions pave the way for a woman's ascendance to power? Are there common pathways to power? How much do family ties matter? Is political activism and important factor? Evren Celik Wiltse and Lisa Hager answer these questions, and more, in their comprehensive study encompassing all the women presidents and prime ministers around the world from the 1960s through 2020.