India a 'flawed democracy': Economist Intelligence Unit

New Delhi, Apr 7 (PTI) India may rank well above many
other emerging economies in terms of its democratic climate,
but it still remains a "flawed democracy", according to global
research organisation Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU).

In the latest edition of its annual Democracy Index,
published Tuesday, EIU placed India among the 50 countries
found to be "flawed democracies".

This dubious distinction for the country comes in the
midst of India's democracy being highlighted by preparations
for the forthcoming general election, which EIU has also
termed as "the world's largest democratic exercise".

The index, in which Indian democracy has been ranked at
35th position out of the total 167 countries under review, is
based on a collective score of electoral process and
pluralism, civil liberties, functioning of government,
political participation and political culture.

The report has named 30 countries as full democracies, 50
of them as 'flawed' democracies, 36 as hybrid regimes and
another 51 as authoritarian regimes.

The 'full democracies' list is topped by Sweden, followed
by Norway, Iceland, the Netherlands, Denmark, Finland, New
Zealand, Switzerland, Luxembourg, Australia, Canada, Ireland
and Germany, among others.

Other full democracies include Japan, the US, the UK,
Greece, France, Portugal, Mauritius, South Korea and Italy.

Countries like Singapore, Hong Kong, Bangladesh,
Pakistan, Russia, Bhutan, Turkey, Nepal and Iraq have been
named as 'hybrid regimes'.

The authoritarian regimes include Jordan, Egypt, Morocco,
Nigeria, Kuwait, China, Afghanistan, Oman, Qatar, Iran, the
UAE, Vietnam and North Korea.

Besides India, EIU has named neighbouring countries such
as Sri Lanka, Thailand, the Philippines, Indonesia, Malaysia
and another emerging market giant and BRIC nation Brazil among
"flawed democracies".

"However, India is well placed within this category,
ranking above all of these nations. With an overall score of
7.8 out of 10, it is just shy of the score needed to be
categorised as a full democracy," EIU said adding that a
country qualifies to be named a "full democracy" in its
ranking with a minimum score of eight-on-ten.

"While India's democracy, in technical terms, is flawed,
the country is very close to joining the elite club of full
democracies. India's young citizenry needs to engage with
politics more actively and constructively in order to create a
favourable democratic culture in the country," EIU's Research
Director Manoj Vohra said.

"India is already well ahead of most emerging economies,"
he added.

Those among 'flawed democracies' also include Taiwan,
South Africa, Israel, Mexico and Indonesia.

EIU further noted that India's relatively strong position
owes much to its extremely high scores in the electoral
process and pluralism and civil liberties categories. Its
status as the world's largest democracy and the country's
vibrant free press and pluralistic society have long been
justifiably celebrated, EIU said.

"In these areas, India outscores even some long-
established democracies that fall in the 'full democracies'
category, including the US and the UK," it said.

However, India fares much worse in terms of political
participation and political culture categories. "The existence
of the "argumentative Indian" may facilitate public debate,
but this does not necessarily translate into a high level of
political participation."

Voter turnout in the most recent general election, in
May 2004, was 58 per cent, but this figure masks extremely
wide inter-state variations, ranging from 35 per cent in Jammu
and Kashmir to 92 per cent in the small north-eastern state of
Nagaland.

Within political culture, the increasing reliance on
unwieldy and sometimes uncooperative coalitions often hinders
rather than advancing economic reforms, and this works against
the country's overall score. India's government functioning
score is relatively strong, but it is brought down by
lingering issues about corruption and government
accountability.

EIU also noted that the economic downturn would have a
negligible impact on democracy.

"India is currently experiencing an economic slowdown,
but the global economic crisis has had a much smaller impact
on India than on most other countries. As a result, there is
unlikely to be any direct impact on the functioning of
democracy," it said.

"Other issues, such as consumer price inflation and
national security, would have been far more likely to prompt
an increase in social unrest than a broad-based cyclical
economic downturn," Vohra said.

EIU said that those countries scoring 8-10 points have
been named as 'full democracies', a score of 6-7.9 points
qualifies a country as 'flawed' democracy, those with 4-5.9
points are 'hybrid regimes' and a score below four make a
nation an 'authoritarian regime.' PTI BJ
AM