V-Dem’s Democracy Report 2022

Context

A Sweden-based institute has recently said that India is no longer an ‘electoral democracy’, classifying the country as an ‘electoral autocracy’ instead.

Key-highlights 

• The democratic gains of the post-Cold War period are eroding rapidly in the last few years.
• Autocratisation is spreading rapidly, with a record of 33 countries autocratising.
• The level of democracy enjoyed by the average global citizen in 2021 is down to 1989 levels.
• While Sweden topped the LDI index, other Scandinavian countries such as Denmark and Norway, along with Costa Rica and New Zealand make up the top five in liberal democracy rankings.

About the report

• The study, titled ‘Democracy Report 2022: Autocratisation Changing Nature?’ states that more than twice as many countries are undergoing Autocratisation as are witnessing democratization.
• The conceptual scheme takes into account not only the electoral dimension (free and fair elections) but also the liberal principle that democracy must protect “individual and minority rights”.
• The V-Dem report classifies countries into four regime types based on their score in the Liberal Democratic Index (LDI):
  • Liberal Democracy
  • Electoral Democracy
  • Electoral Autocracy and
  • Closed Autocracy

About The Liberal Democratic Index (LDI)

• The LDI captures both liberal and electoral aspects of a democracy based on 71 indicators that make up the:
• Liberal Component Index (LCI): It measures aspects such as protection of individual liberties and legislative constraints on the executive.
• Electoral Democracy Index (EDI): It considers indicators that guarantee free and fair elections such as freedom of expression and freedom of association.
• In addition, the LDI also uses:
  • Egalitarian Component Index (to what extent different social groups are equal).
  • Participatory Component Index (health of citizen groups, civil society organisations).
  • Deliberative Component Index (whether political decisions are taken through public reasoning focused on common good or through emotional appeals, solidarity attachments, coercion).

Top 5 LDI Countries

• Sweden
• Denmark
• Norway
• Costa Rica
• New Zealand

India’s performance

• It classifies India as an electoral autocracy ranking it 93rd on the LDI, out of 179 countries.
  • Ranked 93rd in the LDI, India figures in the “bottom 50%” of countries.
• According to a report,India is one of the top ten ‘autocratisers’ in the world.
• India is part of a broader global trend of an anti-plural political party driving a country’s Autocratisation.
• It has slipped further down in the Electoral Democracy Index, to 100, and even lower in the Deliberative Component Index, at 102.
• In South Asia, India is ranked below Sri Lanka (88), Nepal (71), and Bhutan (65) and above Pakistan (117) in the LDI.