Democracy in India

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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]

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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 saṅghas and gaṇas 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

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Vaikunda Perumal Temple, Uthiramerur</span> Hindu temple in Tamil Nadu, India

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Democratic backsliding</span> National decline in democracy

Democratic backsliding is a process of regime change toward autocracy that makes the exercise of political power by the public more arbitrary and repressive. This process typically restricts the space for public contestation and political participation in the process of government selection. Democratic decline involves the weakening of democratic institutions, such as the peaceful transition of power or free and fair elections, or the violation of individual rights that underpin democracies, especially freedom of expression. Democratic backsliding is the opposite of democratization.

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References

  1. V-Dem Institute (2023). "The V-Dem Dataset" . Retrieved 3 February 2024.
  2. Dutta, Anisha (22 June 2023). "India secretly works to preserve reputation on global Democracy Index". The Guardian.
  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. "India Is 'One of the Worst Autocratisers in the Last 10 Years,' Says 2023 V-Dem Report". The Wire. 7 March 2023.
  5. "Democratic Backsliding in India, the World's Largest Democracy". V-Dem Institute . 24 February 2020. Archived from the original on 27 February 2021. Retrieved 3 January 2021.
  6. Forbes India Investigation: India's most gerrymandered constituencies, Karthik Shashidhar, 2019
  7. 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. R., Nagaswamy (2003). Uttaramerur. Chennai: Tamil Arts Academy. pp. 12–16.
  13. Padmaja, T. (7 March 2024). Temples of Kr̥ṣṇa in South India: History, Art, and Traditions in Tamilnāḍu. Abhinav Publications. p. 88. ISBN   9788170173984.
  14. Vaikunta perumal temple inscriptions, Uttiramerur, TN and democratic election practices 1000 years ago, Navrang India, September 02, 2022