On January 22, 2020, According to the 12th edition of the ‘Democracy Index 2019: A year of democratic setbacks and popular protest’, released by the Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU), India has slipped 10 ranks to 51st spot with the score of 6.90 in this index, which provides a blueprint for the current state of democracy in 165 independent states and two territories.
Top & bottom: Norway tops the list with a score of 9.87 while North Korea is at the bottom with 167th place with 1.08 points.
Key Points:
i.India’s score in the year 2018 were 7.23, which has come down to 6.90, the lowest level in 13 years. As per the report, India’s democracy scores have declined due to lack of civil liberties, especially the removal of Article 370 from Jammu & Kashmir (J&K) and the enforcement of the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) 2019.
ii.While considering Asia and Australasia region, India ranks 8th behind Taiwan and Timor-Leste.
Top 3 & Bottom 3 countries in the Index:
[su_table]
| Rank | Country | Score |
| 51st | India | 6.9 |
| 1 | Norway | 9.87 |
| 2 | Iceland | 9.58 |
| 3 | Sweden | 9.39 |
| 165 | Central African Republic | 1.32 |
| 166 | Democratic Republic of the Congo | 1.13 |
| 167 | North Korea | 1.08 |
[/su_table]
iii.The average global score also witnessed its worst level to 5.44 in 2019, down from 5.48 in 2018 due to sharp regression in Latin America and Sub-Saharan Africa. China is now at 153rd spot in 2019 with the score of 2.26. It is close to the bottom rung in the global ranking.
iv.About the Index: The Global Democracy Index is based on 5 categories viz – the functioning of government, election process and pluralism, political participation, political culture and civil liberties.
Based on their total score, countries are classified into 4 types of governance – full democracy (scoring more than 8 points), flawed democracy (more than 6 but scoring 8 or less than 8), Hybrid regime (more than 4 but scoring 6 or less than 6) and authoritarian regime (having 4 or less). India is included in a flawed democracy.
The EIU started releasing the Democracy Index in 2006.EIU is the research and analysis division of The Economist Group, which is the sister company to The Economist newspaper.
About Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU):
Founded– 1946
Headquarters– London, England
