Relevance: Mains: G.S paper II: International Institutions and Index
Context
- India slipped 10 places to 51st position in the 2019 Democracy Index’s global ranking, according to The Economist Intelligence Unit, which cited “erosion of civil liberties” in the country as the primary cause for the downtrend. India’s overall score fell from 7.23 in 2018 to 6.90.
About:
- The report, “A year of democratic setbacks and popular protest”, was done by The Economist Intelligence Unit — the research and analysis division of The Economist Group, which is the sister company to The Economist newspaper.
- The report records how global democracy fared, analysing 165 independent states and two territories.
Key findings:
- India slipped 10 places in the 2019 global ranking to 51st place. India’s overall score fell from 7.23 to 6.9, on a scale of 0-10, within a year (2018-2019) — the country’s lowest since 2006.
- 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).
- In the Asia and Australasia region, India ranks eighth, behind Taiwan and Timor-Leste.
- The Index categorises India under “flawed democracies”, countries that hold free and fair elections, but have significant weaknesses in aspects of democracy, such as problems in governance, an underdeveloped political culture and low levels of political participation.
- There are only 22 “full democracies” as compared to 54 “authoritarian regimes” and as many “flawed democracies,” that include the U.S.
- The average global score recorded its worst value ever, down from 5.48 in 2018 to 5.44.
