India ‘one of the worst autocratisers’: V-Dem report on democracy

Subject: IR

Section: Reports

Democracy Report 2024:

The Sweden (Gothenburg)-based V-Dem Institute released the ‘Democracy Report 2024’.
The Democracy Report 2024 is based on contributions from 4,200 scholars worldwide and utilizes 31 million datasets covering 202 countries from 1789 to 2023.
This summary underscores the concerning trend of democratic backsliding in India and globally, highlighting the critical role of upcoming elections and governance in shaping the future of democracy.

Key findings:

The V-Dem Institutecategorizes nations into four types:Liberal Democracy, Electoral Democracy, Electoral Autocracy, and Closed Autocracy.
As of 2023,71% of the world’s population (5.7 billion people) live under autocratic regimes, a significant increase from 48% a decade ago.
Democratisation is occurring in only 18 countries, affecting 5% of the global population.
The report notes deterioration in almost all democratic components, with freedom of expression, clean elections, and freedom of association/civil society being the most affected.
Electoral management bodies’ autonomy is weakening in more than half of the autocratising countries.
The report highlights a global trend towardsautocratisation, with 42 countries (35% of the global population) moving towards less democratic governance.India represents about half of this demographic, making it a significant contributor to the trend.

Specific Observations on India:

India has been downgraded from an “electoral autocracy” since 2018 to “one of the worst autocracies”.
India’s level of “liberal democracy” has regressed to levels last seen in 1975, during Indira Gandhi’s emergency declaration.
The current government, led by the BJP, has been critiqued for undermining freedom of expression, media independence, and civil liberties.
Laws related to sedition, defamation, and counterterrorism have been used to suppress dissent.
There’s a noted suppression of religious freedom, intimidation of political opponents, and silencing of dissent in academia.
Bhutan is highlighted as the only liberal democracy in South and Central Asia.
The report specifically mentions that a third term for the BJP and Mr Modi in India could lead to further autocratisation.

Source: TH