India ‘one of the Worst Autocratisers’: V-Dem Democracy Report

In the news

• India, previously categorized as an “electoral autocracy” in 2018, has further declined to become one of the “worst autocratizers,” according to the ‘Democracy Report 2024’ by the Gothenburg-based V-Dem (or Varieties of Democracy) Institute.

Key highlights on India

• Deteriorating Status: India, previously downgraded to an electoral autocracy in 2018, has further declined to become “one of the worst autocratizers.”
• Historical Comparison: India’s level of “liberal democracy” has regressed significantly, reaching levels last seen in 1975 during the state of emergency declared by Indira Gandhi.
• Regime Classification: India falls into the category of electoral autocracy, characterized by multiparty elections alongside insufficient levels of freedom of expression and fair elections.
• Erosion of Democratic Freedoms: The report highlights the gradual deterioration of freedom of expression, media independence, and attacks on civil society under the current government.

About the V-Dem Democracy Report

• Publication: The V-Dem Institute releases the Democracy Report annually, offering insights into the state of democracy worldwide, focusing on democratization and autocratization.
• Regime Classification: Countries are categorized into four regime types based on their scores in the Liberal Democratic Index (LDI), encompassing a spectrum from liberal democracy to closed autocracy.

What is Liberal Democratic Index (LDI)?

• Comprehensive Assessment: The LDI evaluates both liberal (individual and minority rights) and electoral aspects (free and fair elections) of democracy.
• Indicators: It comprises 71 indicators, encompassing the Liberal Component Index (LCI) and the Electoral Democracy Index (EDI), capturing various dimensions of democratic governance.

• 1. LCI: Measures aspects like protection of individual liberties and legislative constraints on the executive.
  2. EDI: Considers indicators ensuring free and fair elections such as freedom of expression and association.

• Components of the LDI include:

1. Egalitarian Component Index: Assesses the extent of equality among different social groups within a democracy.
2. Participatory Component Index: Evaluates the health of citizen groups and civil society organizations, indicating the degree of citizen engagement.
3. Deliberative Component Index: Gauges whether political decisions are driven by public reasoning focused on the common good or influenced by emotional appeals, solidarity attachments, or coercion.
4. Publication Schedule: The Democracy Report is typically published annually in March, presenting a comprehensive analysis of global democratic trends.

Key Findings from the Democracy Report 2024:

• Collaborative Effort: The report is a collaborative endeavour involving 4,200 scholars from 180 countries, leveraging 31 million datasets spanning from 1789 to 2023 to assess the democratic status of 202 countries.
• Global Trends:

1. Autocratization: In 2023, 42 countries, representing 35% of the world’s population, were undergoing autocratization.
2. Population in Autocracies: Currently, 71% of the world’s population, amounting to 5.7 billion people, resides in autocracies, marking a significant increase from 48% a decade ago.
3. Decline in Democracy: The level of democracy experienced by the average individual globally has regressed to 1985 levels, with Eastern Europe, South, and Central Asia experiencing the sharpest declines.