In a recent working paper, the Economic Advisory Council to the Prime Minister examined three perception-based indices: the Freedom in the World Index, the V-DEM indices, and the EIU Democracy Index.
Key Highlights
- India has been ranked at the same level as it was during the Emergency in the 1970s according to the Freedom in the World Index and V-DEM rankings.
- India is currently ranked below nations like Northern Cyprus.
- However, the technique employed in these perception-based indices has significant flaws, according to the report.
- The World Bank ought to make sure that these organisations operate with more transparency and accountability because these indices serve as inputs for the World Governance Indicators.
Issues
- The judgments of a small number of unidentified “experts” form the foundation of these indices.
- The questions that are asked are subjective and written in such a way that it is impossible to provide an objective response, let alone one that allows for cross-national comparison.
- Some inquiries that ought to be made but are not
- Some of the questions included in these indices are not a reliable indicator of democracy in all nations.
Freedom in the World Index
- Freedom House has been publishing it since 1973.
- The classification for India is “partly free.”
- India will receive a score of 66 in 2022.
- On political rights, 33 out of 35; on civil liberties, 33 out of 42.
- Democracy Index
- The Economist Intelligence Unit is the publisher (EIU).
- India is categorised as a “Flawed Democracy.”
- India is in 46th place.
- India saw an improvement in its ratings in the categories of political involvement, civil liberties, and government operation.
Varieties of Democracy (V-DEM) indices
- The Varieties of Democracy Institute at the University of Gothenburg in Sweden created it, and it comes out with six indices that cover different facets of democracy: liberal democracy, Electoral democracy, liberal component, egalitarian component, participatory component, and deliberative component.
- India’s position: 93rd