Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU) has released the 12th edition of the “Democracy Index 2019: A year of democratic setbacks and popular protest“. Norway topped the Index while North Korea was placed at the bottom of the list. India has been placed at 51st position among 167 countries in the Index and was included in flawed democracy.
Bangladesh has improved its ranking by 8 points and ranked at 80th position compared to 88th position in 2018. However, Bangladesh continues to be placed in the category of hybrid democracies. According to the EIU methodology hybrid regimes are marked by substantial electoral irregularities and government pressure on opposition parties.
According to The Economist Intelligence Unit’s measure of democracy, almost one-half of the world’s population live in a democracy of some sort, although only 5.7% reside in a full democracy. More than one-third of the world’s population live under authoritarian rule, with a large share being in China.