India ranked 46th in EIUs Democracy Index

What is the News?

The Economist Intelligence Unit has released the Democracy Index,2021.

What is the Democracy Index?

The Democracy Index was started in 2006. It provides a snapshot of the state of democracy worldwide in 165 independent states and two territories.

The index is based on 60 indicators grouped into five categories: electoral process and pluralism, civil liberties, functioning of government, political participation and political culture.

Each country will be provided with a score of 0 to 10. These scores are decided based on the above indicators. Based on their scores, each country is then classified into any one of the four types of regime such as a) full democracy, b) flawed democracy, c) hybrid regime and d) authoritarian regime.

What are the key findings of the Democracy Index?

Norway has topped the index. It has been classified as a full democracy.

India is ranked 46th on the 2021 index with an overall score of 6.91. It has been classified as a flawed democracy. (In 2020, India was ranked 53rd in the index).

Less than half (45.7%) of the world’s population now live in a democracy of some sort, a significant decline from 2020(49.4%). 

Even fewer countries(6.4%) reside in a “full democracy”. Further, more than a third of the world’s population (37.1%) live under authoritarian rule, with a large share being in China. 

About the Economist Intelligence Unit(EIU)

The Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU) was created in 1946. It is the research and analysis division of The Economist Group and the world leader in global business intelligence.

Source: This post is based on the article “India ranked 46th in EIUs Democracy Index” published in Deccan Herald on 15th Feb 2022.