From its inception in 2006, the Democracy Index has been an essential tool for assessing the state of democracy in 165 countries and two territories across the globe. This index, developed by the research and analysis division of The Economist Group, named the Economist Intelligence Unit, has, unfortunately, reported a decline in India’s position from 41st in 2018 to 51st in 2019.
About the Democracy Index
The Democracy Index is based upon five key categories including Civil Liberties; Electoral Process and Pluralism; Functioning of Government; Political Participation; and Political Culture. A scoring system is used where countries are rated on a scale of 0 to 10 on 60 indicators within these categories. The scores then categorize each nation into four types of regimes: Full Democracy (scores greater than 8); Flawed Democracy (greater than 6 and up to 8); Hybrid Regime (greater than 4 and up to 6); and Authoritarian Regime (less than or equal to 4).
Decline in Global Score in 2019
In 2019, the average global score fell from 5.48 in 2018 to 5.44. This is the worst average global score recorded since the introduction of the index in 2006. The major contributing factors for this decline include sharp regressions in Latin America and Sub-Saharan Africa, with four out of the five categories making up the global average score showing deterioration.
An Overview of Global Democracy
Alongside the overall decline in the global score, the number of “full democracies” also reduced to just 22 as compared to 54 “authoritarian regimes” and an equivalent number of “flawed democracies”. A significant point to note is that although 48.4% of the world’s population live in some sort of democracy, only 5.7% reside in a “full democracy”.
| Type of Democracy | Population Percentage |
|---|---|
| Any kind of Democracy | 48.4% |
| Full Democracy | 5.7% |
Insight into India’s Performance
India’s performance saw a marked decline with its score falling from 7.23 in 2018 to 6.90 in 2019, which is the lowest since 2006. The primary cause for this decline has been attributed to the erosion of civil liberties. Examples include: the repeal of Articles 370 and 35A in Jammu and Kashmir and the subsequent security measures including Internet restrictions; and the exclusion of 1.9 million people, predominantly Muslims, from the final National Register of Citizens (NRC) in Assam.
By the standard of the Index, India’s score now places it in the “flawed democracy” category. Despite holding free and fair elections with respect for basic civil liberties, India’s imperfect governance, underdeveloped political culture, and low political participation levels contribute to this classification.
A Look at India’s Comparisons With Other Countries
In the Asia and Australasia region, India ranks eighth, trailing behind nations like Taiwan and Timor-Leste. While India shares the “flawed democracy” category with the United States (7.96) and Bangladesh (5.88), Pakistan (4.25) falls under the “hybrid democracy”. Meanwhile, China (2.26) and North Korea (1.08, bottom-ranked) are under “authoritarian regimes”. Norway, on the other hand, leads the pack as a “full democracy” with a high score of 9.87, followed by other top-ranking nations such as Iceland (9.58), Sweden (9.39) and New Zealand (9.26) also classified as “full democracies”. Other countries sharing this premium classification include Germany, the United Kingdom and France.