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India has plummeted 10 places down in global democracy index, released by The Economist Group. This global index which was launched in 2006 has been drawn out by the Economist Intelligence Unit of The Economist Group, which is a sister company of The Economist newspaper.
India ranks lower than South Africa, Malaysia and Columbia as well. The survey rates the state of democracy across 167 countries based on five measures—electoral process and pluralism, the functioning of government, political participation, democratic political culture and civil liberties—finds that democracy has been eroded around the world in the past year.
As per the Index India comes under the category of “flawed democracy”. India has always been regarded as a flawed democracy in this index. Flawed democracies are countries which have free and fair elections and basic civil liberties but where there are significant weaknesses in other aspects of democracy, including governance, political culture and participation. This is although the first time India’s score has fallen below 7 out of 10.
India is among the 11 countries which saw regressions in 2019, the other 10 countries being Belarus, Benin, Bolivia, Cameroon, Comoros, Egypt, Guyana, Singapore, Mali and Zambia.
The report stated, ““The biggest democracy in the world, India, dropped ten places in the Democracy Index’s global ranking to 51st place. India’s overall score fell from 7.23 in 2018 to 6.90 in 2019. The primary cause of the democratic regression was an erosion of civil liberties in the country.” India’s highest score has been 7.92, in 2014.
The report attributed the fall in ranking of India on the index to the repeal of provisions giving autonomy to Jammu and Kashmir, Assam NRC, CAA and protests. It also makes note of the criticism that the BJP is trying to target Muslims to change the demographics of India. India was graded in electoral process and pluralism (8.67), government functioning (6.79), political participation (6.67), political culture (5.63) and civil liberties (6.76).
The total score of some 68 countries declined from 2018, but almost as many (65) recorded an improvement.
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