India has the most democratic violations among democracies deemed “backsliding” according to the latest report by the International Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance (International IDEA), a 34-nation intergovernmental organisation based in Stockholm.
The Global State of Democracy 2021 report says the world is becoming “more authoritarian” as autocratic regimes become even more brazen in their repression and as many democratic governments are backsliding and adopting authoritarian tactics by restricting free speech and weakening the rule of law, a trend exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic.
The report says more countries than ever before are suffering from “democratic erosion” (decline in democratic quality), including established democracies. "70% of the global population now live either in non-democratic regimes or in democratically backsliding countries," it notes.
The number of countries undergoing “democratic backsliding” (a more severe and deliberate kind of democratic erosion) has never been as high as in the last decade and includes regional geopolitical and economic powers such as Brazil, India and the United States.
“India is the backsliding democracy with the most democratic violations during the pandemic. Violations include: Harassment, arrests and prosecution of human rights defenders, activists, journalists, students, academics and others critical of the government or its policies; excessive use of force in the enforcement of COVID-19 regulations; harassment against Muslim minorities; Internet obstructions; and lockdowns, particularly in Kashmir,” the report notes.
In a region-focused report that looked at the Asia-Pacific, International IDEA said the trend of “rising ethnonationalism” that undermined pluralism, increased polarization and heightened conflict was “most immediately noticeable in India, Indonesia and Sri Lanka”.
The foreword of the report, written by former Chief Election Commissioner of India Dr S.Y. Quraishi, takes a hopeful tone even as it notes that democracy is on the back foot.
“As the former Chief Election Commissioner of my own country, India, I have personally been witness to the changing times of global democracy. Despite India falling in the democracy ranks, I can personally attest that the spirit of democracy among the Indian people remains strong. Difficult times undoubtedly lie ahead. Democracy is on the back foot, and more countries are moving towards authoritarianism than at any other point since 1995. However, I am confident that democracy’s resilience, perhaps its greatest asset, will allow it ultimately to triumph,” Quraishi writes.
The United States was added to the list of “backsliding” democracies for the first time, on account of “visible deterioration” of its democratic credentials, including a decline of its civil liberties and checks on government since 2019, as well as a dip in the “quality of freedom of association and assembly during the summer of protests in 2020”.
The report comes ahead of US President Joe Biden's December 9-10 virtual summit for democracy aimed at gathering government, civil society and private sector leaders in what Biden has cast as a global faceoff against rising autocratic forces.
The organisation added that as of August 2021, 64 per cent of countries have taken an action to curb the pandemic that it considers “disproportionate, unnecessary or illegal."
International IDEA said the number of backsliding democracies has doubled in the past decade, and highlighted the United States, Hungary, Poland and Slovenia.
Overall, the number of countries moving in an authoritarian direction in 2020 outnumbered those going in a democratic direction, the report said, adding that in the past two years, the world has lost at least four democracies, either through flawed elections or military coups.
In 2016, International IDEA launched the Global State of Democracy Initiative, to analyse democratic trends and challenges and opportunities impacting the global democracy landscape. The Global State of Democracy Initiative provides evidence-based and balanced analysis and data on the state and quality of democracy across most countries and all regions of the world.
In 2021, India fell to the 53rd position in the Economist Intelligence Unit’s Democracy Index, which ranks the country as a “flawed democracy”.
A global decline in democracy
In Asia, International IDEA said, Afghanistan, Hong Kong and Myanmar have suffered from a wave of growing authoritarianism. But democratic erosion has also been found in India, the Philippines and Sri Lanka.
China's influence, coupled with its own deepening autocratisation, also puts the legitimacy of the democratic model at risk, the report said.
In Africa, democracy declines have undermined remarkable progress made across the continent over the past three decades. The pandemic has added pressure on governments to respond to concerns regarding governance, rights and social inequality, it said. It also noted military coups in Chad, Guinea, Mali and Sudan.
The report also noted that half the democracies in the Americas have suffered democratic erosion, with notable declines in Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, El Salvador and the United States.
As for Europe, the pandemic has placed a strain on democracy and in some countries where democratic principles were already under threat, it provided an excuse for governments to weaken democracy further. Europe's non-democratic governments it identified Azerbaijan, Belarus, Russia and Turkey have intensified their already very repressive practices, International IDEA said.
With inputs from PTI