India slips to 42nd place on Global Democracy Index; Norway tops the list

India has ranked 42^nd on the Economist Intelligence Unit’s (EIU) Global Democracy Index 2017. This marks a drop by 10 spots as compared to 32^nd rank last year.

About EIU Global Democracy Index:

 Global Democracy Index 2017 ranks 165 independent states and two territories on the basis of five categories.

• The five categories are – electoral process and pluralism, functioning of government, civil liberties, political participation and political culture.
• Countries in the index have been placed under four broad categories full democracy, flawed democracy, hybrid regime and authoritarian regime.
• Global Democracy Index was first published in 2006.
• London-Headquartered EIU (founded in 1946) is owned by the Economist Group.

Highlights of EIU Global Democracy Index 2017:
Drop in India’s ranking has been attributed to rise of conservative religious ideologies, increase in vigilantism and violence against minorities as well as other dissenting voices.

• In 2017, India’s overall score was 7.23 points. India’s best score was on onthe parameter of electoral process and pluralism (9.17).
• India along with US,Italy, Japan, France, Singapore, Israel and Hong Kong have been placed in the category of ‘flawed democracies’.
• Norway topped the index with an overall score of 9.87 while North Korea is ranked the lowest at167^th. 
• Among India’s neighbours, Pakistan (110th), Bangladesh (92nd), Nepal (94th) and Bhutan (99th) have been placed under the ‘Hybrid Regimes’ category while China (139th) and Myanmar (120th) have been classified as ‘Authoritarian Regimes’.
• Out of 165 countries and two territories, only top-19 countries have been classified as ‘full democracies’.
• In Global DemocracyIndex 2017, the average global score fell from 5.52 in 2016 to48.

EIU Global Democracy Index 2017 – Top 10: