• The democracy index is compiled by the economist intelligence unit ( EIU)  which is the research division of the economist group. It is a private company that publishes the weekly newspaper “The Economist”.
• The index is similar to the human development index but it is mainly concerned with the political institutions and freedoms.
• The index measures the state of democracy in 167 countries and territories across the world. In which 166 are sovereign states. 
• The global democracy index is based on 60 indicators which are divided into five categories which in turn measure pluralism, civil liberties and political culture.

The global democracy index gives different countries ranks and scores.

Further it also categories countries into four regime types these are -:

1. Full democracies
2. Flawed democracies
3. Hybrid regimes
4. Authoritarian regimes

Definition of the regimes 

• Full democracies- are nations wherein fundamental rights and civil liberties are respected. They have a system of checks and balances, independent media and judiciary and a government that works adequately. They have limited problems in the democratic setup
• Flawed democracies- These are those nations where free and fair elections take place, civil liberties and freedoms are honoured but they’re infringing and suppressing critics. The issues in the democratic setup of the countries include – low participation rate in politics, political culture is underdeveloped and the government functioning is inadequate
• Hybrid regimes- These are those nations where electoral frauds are common and hinder the process of free and fair elections. The government pressurises any kind of political opposition. The faults in the democracy are more than the flawed democracies that include a non – independent judiciary, corruption, harassment of media, undeveloped political culture and low participation rate
• Authoritarian regimes- these nations are absolute monarchies or dictatorships. These can have some democratic institutions but they are insignificant. The media is state owned , criticism of opposition to the government is censored, the Freedom and civil liberties of the citizens have no place in this regime .Furthermore the judiciary is not independent and free and fair elections are a dream

The rank of India in the Democracy Index

• India has ranked 46 th in the global democracy index 2021 as per the economist intelligence unit. India has scored 6.75 to come 46th
• India has ranked the lowest score of 5 on political culture and the highest score of 8.67 in pluralism. Further, the country scores 6 .18 on civil liberties,7.22 on political participation and 7.50 in political functioning. India has been described as a flawed democracy
• The data was published in February 2021. Among our neighbours, Pakistan has ranked 104
• Norway with the highest score of 9.75 has backed rank 1
• Reasons for the decline in the democracy index can be the yearlong farm protest, the failure to contain and stop the persecution of religious minorities

List of top ten countries in the global democracy index 

1. Norway  – with a score of 9.75
2. New Zealand – ranked second with a score of 9.37
3. Finland with a score of 9.27 ranked third.
4. Sweden – it has a score of 9.26 and has slipped from 3rd position.
5. Iceland – with a score of 9.18 it slipped the biggest from rank 2 to 5.
6. Denmark – with a score of 9.09 came sixth.
7. Ireland – with a score of 9 came seventh
8. Taiwan – with a score of 8.99 ranked eighth.
9. Australia – came ninth with a score of 8.90
10. Switzerland – shared the same overall score of 8.90 with Australia.

Conclusion

The Global democracy index is compiled by the economist intelligence unit (EIU)  which is the research division of the economist group. It is a private company that publishes the weekly newspaper The Economist.The index is similar to the human development index but it is mainly concerned with the political institutions and according to the recent Global democracy index of 2021 India has ranked 46 th while Norway has ranked one.The index measures the state of democracy in 167 countries and territories across the world. In which 166 are sovereign states. The global democracy index is based on 60 indicators which are divided into five categories which in turn measure pluralism, civil liberties and political culture. The global democracy index gives different countries ranks and scores. Further it also categories countries into four regime types -: Full Democracies, Flawed Democracies, Hybrid regimes and Authoritarian regimes.