A few days back an article titled "Descent of Democracy" caught my attention. As per that, the Democracy index is compiled by Economist Intelligence Unit, a UK based company. The index is based on 60 indicators grouped in five different categories, measuring electoral process, pluralism, the functioning of government, political participation, political culture, and civil liberties. The democracy index is a weighted average based on the answers to the said 60 questions. In addition to numeric score and ranking, the index categorises each country in one of the four regime types namely full democracies, flawed democracies, hybrid regimes, and authoritarian regimes.
The ECIU published its latest report “The State of Democracy in the world in 2018”.As per the report Norway was at the top, scoring 9.87 out of 10, while North-Korea with 1.08 was at the bottom. Only 20 countries are Full democracies, while the largest number of 55 countries are under flawed democracies, with 43% of the world population. A third of the world population live in 39, hybrid regime countries, while 43 countries have authoritarian governments.
Among the SAARC countries India (41), Srilanka(71), are classified as flawed democracies, followed by Bangladesh (88), Bhutan(94), and Nepal(97) which are classified as hybrid regimes, with Pakistan (112), Afghanistan (143), being authoritarian.
Even though the author mentions about other countries but here I would stick with India as it is a matter of personal interest for us.
If we have a look at the EIUD index map in the region, we can understand the uniqueness of India’s democratic credentials, hailed as the largest democracy in the world hemmed in by hybrid and authoritarian regimes.
India, which had reached its highest-ever position of 27, in 2014(MMS Govt) just two ranks away from becoming full democracy, slipped to 42nd position last year, registering second largest fall in ranking after Indonesia, which fell by 20 ranks, to 68. Even though India has improved one rank 41, there has been no improvement in scores which continues at 7.23.
This is the worst ever ranking on the index of India. It's a mid-range country among flawed democracies with a high score of 9.17, in electoral process and pluralism (out of 10). But with a moderate record not crossing 7.5 on the rest of the parameters. A dismal score on the state of civil liberties and a decline in the performance of the government and pluralism led to a slump in India’s rank. What has adversely affected India’s rankings last year, according to the report, is the rise of “conservative religious ideologies “, vigilantism, violence, narrowing the scope for dissent, threat to minorities and marginalised groups, etc. Journalists are increasingly under attack, as a result, limited scope for fair reportage, the Indian media is only classified as “partially free” a fact also corroborated by “Freedom in the world report 2018.”
This report covers the period before the 2019 elections. After the general elections, the abrupt abrogation of Art370, unilateral division of J&K, inordinately long clampdown, and incarceration of political leaders in Kashmir, NRC fiasco, citizenship legislation, increasing political manipulation’s, etc could dent ranking further. Earlier with all alleged inanities in secularism, India managed to remain a steady democracy.
It’s apprehended that the present regime’s panache for the conservative religious ideology if pursued long, may transform the country into a theocratic state like Pakistan and Bangladesh from a secular Republic.
The ECIU published its latest report “The State of Democracy in the world in 2018”.As per the report Norway was at the top, scoring 9.87 out of 10, while North-Korea with 1.08 was at the bottom. Only 20 countries are Full democracies, while the largest number of 55 countries are under flawed democracies, with 43% of the world population. A third of the world population live in 39, hybrid regime countries, while 43 countries have authoritarian governments.
Among the SAARC countries India (41), Srilanka(71), are classified as flawed democracies, followed by Bangladesh (88), Bhutan(94), and Nepal(97) which are classified as hybrid regimes, with Pakistan (112), Afghanistan (143), being authoritarian.
Even though the author mentions about other countries but here I would stick with India as it is a matter of personal interest for us.
If we have a look at the EIUD index map in the region, we can understand the uniqueness of India’s democratic credentials, hailed as the largest democracy in the world hemmed in by hybrid and authoritarian regimes.
India, which had reached its highest-ever position of 27, in 2014(MMS Govt) just two ranks away from becoming full democracy, slipped to 42nd position last year, registering second largest fall in ranking after Indonesia, which fell by 20 ranks, to 68. Even though India has improved one rank 41, there has been no improvement in scores which continues at 7.23.
This is the worst ever ranking on the index of India. It's a mid-range country among flawed democracies with a high score of 9.17, in electoral process and pluralism (out of 10). But with a moderate record not crossing 7.5 on the rest of the parameters. A dismal score on the state of civil liberties and a decline in the performance of the government and pluralism led to a slump in India’s rank. What has adversely affected India’s rankings last year, according to the report, is the rise of “conservative religious ideologies “, vigilantism, violence, narrowing the scope for dissent, threat to minorities and marginalised groups, etc. Journalists are increasingly under attack, as a result, limited scope for fair reportage, the Indian media is only classified as “partially free” a fact also corroborated by “Freedom in the world report 2018.”
This report covers the period before the 2019 elections. After the general elections, the abrupt abrogation of Art370, unilateral division of J&K, inordinately long clampdown, and incarceration of political leaders in Kashmir, NRC fiasco, citizenship legislation, increasing political manipulation’s, etc could dent ranking further. Earlier with all alleged inanities in secularism, India managed to remain a steady democracy.
It’s apprehended that the present regime’s panache for the conservative religious ideology if pursued long, may transform the country into a theocratic state like Pakistan and Bangladesh from a secular Republic.
