Los Angeles (DNA) 鈥� India, the world鈥檚 largest democracy, is increasingly less democratic, according to a report issued by an international group of governance researchers.
The 2024 Berggruen Governance Index (BGI) recorded a steep drop from 2010-2021 in the 小蓝视频 Asian giant鈥檚 measurable features of democracy. In the BGI鈥檚 100-point Democratic Accountability Index, India lost 18 points to a score of 62, which is below the average of the 145 countries analysed in the report.
The report, titled 芦Democracy Challenged禄, was presented Wednesday by the Luskin School of Public Affairs at the University of California Los Angeles (UCLA), which collaborated on the project with the Berggruen Institute, a think tank headquartered in Los Angeles, and the Hertie School, a German university.
芦Can we still call India a democracy?禄, BGI lead author Helmut Anheier asked on the occasion of the report's launch event in Los Angeles. 芦At best it's an illiberal democracy.禄
The report describes an increasingly authoritarian 芦drift禄 in India under Hindu nationalist Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who has ruled since 2014. He is expected to win a renewed mandate in ongoing Indian elections, with final results due June 4.
India鈥檚 score on the BGI鈥檚 Public Goods Index rose significantly from 2010-2021, a 13-point gain to 61 on the 100-point scale, even as the report鈥檚 measure of Indian state capacity, which looks into the quality of government, declined a bit. The BGI's Public Goods Index measures the quality of public goods delivered by a state in terms of life expectancy, health care, education, and ecosystem protection.
芦What we have in India is, of course, a strange mixture of economic success with Hindu nationalism, and nationalism in a multi-ethnic country is never a good idea,禄 Anheier said. 芦How stable India's going to be in the next 20 years, I just don't know. If it continues to go down the non-democratic path, I don't think the country's going to be stable.禄
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