Democracy in India explained
India was the 19th most electoral democratic country in Asia according to V-Dem Democracy indices in 2023 with a score of 0.399 out of 1.[1] The Economist Democracy Index in 2022 considered India a flawed democracy.[2]
Democratic backsliding
According to V-Dem Institute, laws on sedition, defamation, and counterterrorism are used to silence critics,[3] and describes India as "one of the worst autocratisers in the last 10 years".[4] Free political speech is limited.[5] Gerrymandering is another challenge to democracy in India.[6] [7]
History
Early Shakyas, Koliyas, Mallakas, and Licchavis claim assemblies open to all men, rich and poor,[8] which could be considered a form of direct democracy. Other s and s had councils of unelected nobles, which don't meet the standards of democracy. Greek historian Diodorus writes two centuries after the time of Alexander the Great about democratic states in India,[9] but lacks evidence for elections considering the word "democracy" around the 3rd century BCE could mean any autonomous state.[10] [11] In the 10th century, the election of local representatives for the village bodies during the Chola Empire is claimed in Vaikunda Perumal Temple's inscriptions.[12] [13] [14]
See also
Notes and References
- Web site: V-Dem Institute . 2023 . The V-Dem Dataset . 3 February 2024.
- News: Dutta . Anisha . India secretly works to preserve reputation on global Democracy Index . The Guardian . 22 June 2023.
- Pillai, Shreeya and Lindberg, Staffan I. (2021) "Democracy Broken Down: India" in Democracy Report 2021: Autocratization Turns Viral pp.20–21. V-Dem Institute
- News: India Is 'One of the Worst Autocratisers in the Last 10 Years,' Says 2023 V-Dem Report . The Wire . 7 March 2023.
- Web site: V-Dem Institute. Democratic Backsliding in India, the World's Largest Democracy. 24 February 2020. 3 January 2021. 27 February 2021. https://web.archive.org/web/20210227182459/https://www.v-dem.net/en/news/democratic-backsliding-india-worlds-largest-democracy/. dead.
- https://www.forbesindia.com/article/special/forbes-india-investigation-indias-most-gerrymandered-constituencies/53011/1 Forbes India Investigation: India's most gerrymandered constituencies, Karthik Shashidhar, 2019
- https://www.trtworld.com/asia/india-gerrymanders-kashmir-region-in-redrawn-electoral-map-56906 India 'gerrymanders' Kashmir region in redrawn electoral map, 2022
- Robinson, 1997, p. 23
- Diodorus 2.39
- Larsen, 1973, pp. 45–46
- de Sainte, 2006, pp. 321–3
- Book: R., Nagaswamy. Uttaramerur. Naga. Tamil Arts Academy. Chennai. 2003. 12–16.
- Book: Padmaja, T.. Temples of Kr̥ṣṇa in South India: History, Art, and Traditions in Tamilnāḍu. 88. 7 March 2024 . Abhinav Publications. 9788170173984.
- https://www.navrangindia.in/2022/09/vaikunta-perumal-temple-inscriptions.html Vaikunta perumal temple inscriptions, Uttiramerur, TN and democratic election practices 1000 years ago, Navrang India, September 02, 2022