India And America: The Autocratisation Of World's 'Greatest Democracies'

by Pankaj Pachauri Jun 02, 2020 • 10:32 PM Views 2773

Both India and the United States, touted as the world's largest democracies, have actually moved closer towards autocracies, according to a report by the V-Dem Institute at Sweden's University of Gothenburg. The report, released barely a week after the February 24 'Namaste Trump' event in Ahmedabad, states that between 2009 and 2019, there was a marked erosion of democratic values in both countries, which included attacks on media, less transparency in elections and censorship of free speech. GoNews Editor-in-Chief, Pankaj Pachauri, sums up the parameters of the report which was largely overshadowed by the coronavirus pandemic.

In 2009, about 54 percent of the world's countries were democratic, it has now been reduced to 49 percent. At the same time, 34 percent of the world's population is now living in non-democratic countries. The democracy in India has reached its cusp. India ranks 89th out of 189 countries. Whereas countries like Sri Lanka, Bhutan and Nepal have better conditions than India.

Statistics show that the situation has worsened since 2013. These include obstruction of fair elections, violation of rights, pressure on cultural and educational values, ​​and stifling of media freedom by the Government and incidents of censorship are increasing.