The Economist EIU report: Where does Pakistan stand
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LONDON - The index ranks 165 independent states and two territories on the basis of five categories: electoral process and pluralism, civil liberties, the functioning of government, political participation and political culture. The list has been divided into four broad categories -- full democracy, flawed democracy, hybrid regime and authoritarian regime.
The US (ranked 21), Japan, Italy, France, Israel, Singapore, and Hong Kong have also been named among 'flawed democracies'.
The EIU is the research and analysis division of the UKbased media behemoth The Economist Group. Created in 1946, the EIU describes itself as having over 70 years of experience "in helping businesses, financial firms and governments to understand how the world is changing and how that creates opportunities to be seized and risks to be managed".
The top three positions on the list are occupied by Nordic countries -- Norway, Iceland and Sweden. New Zealand is at fourth and Denmark at fifth place, while others in top-ten include Ireland, Canada, Australia, Finland and Switzerland.
Only top-19 countries have been classified as 'full democracies', while the hybrid regimes include Pakistan (110th), Bangladesh (92nd), Nepal (94th) and Bhutan (99th).
Those named as 'authoritarian regimes' include China (139th), Myanmar (120th), Russia (135th) and Vietnam (140th).
North Korea is ranked the lowest at 167th, while Syria is a notch better at 166th place.
Top-ranked Norway has been given an overall score of 9.87 with perfect-ten scores for Electoral process and pluralism; Political participation; and Political culture.
India's overall score has fallen to 7.23 points, even as it scored well on electoral process and pluralism (9.17). It has not managed to score so well on other four parameters political culture, functioning of government, political participation and civil liberties.
"The rise of conservative religious ideologies also affected India. The strengthening of right-wing Hindu forces in an otherwise secular country led to a rise of vigilantism and violence against minority communities, particularly Muslims, as well as other dissenting voices," the EIU added.
