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

  1. Web site: V-Dem Institute . 2023 . The V-Dem Dataset . 3 February 2024.
  2. News: Dutta . Anisha . India secretly works to preserve reputation on global Democracy Index . The Guardian . 22 June 2023.
  3. Pillai, Shreeya and Lindberg, Staffan I. (2021) "Democracy Broken Down: India" in Democracy Report 2021: Autocratization Turns Viral pp.20–21. V-Dem Institute
  4. News: India Is 'One of the Worst Autocratisers in the Last 10 Years,' Says 2023 V-Dem Report . The Wire . 7 March 2023.
  5. 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.
  6. 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
  7. https://www.trtworld.com/asia/india-gerrymanders-kashmir-region-in-redrawn-electoral-map-56906 India 'gerrymanders' Kashmir region in redrawn electoral map, 2022
  8. Robinson, 1997, p. 23
  9. Diodorus 2.39
  10. Larsen, 1973, pp. 45–46
  11. de Sainte, 2006, pp. 321–3
  12. Book: R., Nagaswamy. Uttaramerur. Naga. Tamil Arts Academy. Chennai. 2003. 12–16.
  13. Book: Padmaja, T.. Temples of Kr̥ṣṇa in South India: History, Art, and Traditions in Tamilnāḍu. 88. 7 March 2024 . Abhinav Publications. 9788170173984.
  14. 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