EIU's 2020 Democracy Index

EIU's 2020 Democracy Index

Research and analysis division of Economist Group the Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU) has released the Democracy Index, 2020. India slipped two places in the 2020 Democracy Index's global ranking. India slipped to 53rd position due to 'democratic backsliding' by authorities and 'crackdowns' on civil liberties.

Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU):

Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU) is the research and analysis division of Economist Group providing forecasting and advisory services through research and analysis, such as monthly country reports, five-year country economic forecasts, country risk service reports, and industry reports. The EIU has several offices across the globe including two offices in China and one in Hong Kong. It was started in 2006 by the Economist Intelligence Unit. The index provides a clear image of the status of democracy worldwide in 167 countries.

• Categories: The index is based on five categories :

• Civil liberties,
• Electoral process and pluralism;
• Functioning of government;
• Political participation;
• Political culture.
• Classification: Each country will be provided with a score of 0 to 10. These scores are decided based on the 60 indicators within the five categories. Based on their scores, each country is then classified into any one of the four types of regime. Such as,

• Full democracy,
• Flawed democracy,
• Hybrid regime,
• Authoritarian regime.

Rank of India in EIU's 2020 Democracy Index

India has dropped two places and India’s score was 6.61. Currently, India was in 53rd position in 2020. This is due to a lapse in democratic processes among authorities and suppressive actions by the government on civil liberties. India has been classified as a ‘flawed democracy’ along with countries such as the US, France, Belgium and Brazil.

Flawed Democracy country

The Flawed Democracy countries are the countries which hold free and fair elections and respect the basic civil liberties. But they have notable weaknesses with regards to democracy. Such as an underdeveloped political culture, problems in governance and low levels of political participation.