Democracy Index 2023: Bangladesh slips two notches to 75th position
Bangladesh remains classified as a ‘hybrid regime’
Bangladesh has slipped two notches to rank 75th among 167 countries on the Economist Intelligence Unit's Democracy Index 2023 as its score hit a 5-year low.
The annual index, released on Thursday, rated the state of democracy in countries across the globe on the basis of five categories – electoral process and pluralism, functioning of government, political participation, political culture, and civil liberties.
With an overall score of 5.87 on a scale of 10, Bangladesh remains classified as a "hybrid regime". A score of 10 would mean the best performance.
The EIU defines "hybrid regimes" as those countries where "elections have substantial irregularities that often prevent them from being both free and fair."
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Besides, "government pressure on opposition parties and candidates may be common" in these countries.
Serious weaknesses are more prevalent in "hybrid regimes" compared to "flawed democracies", encompassing political culture, functioning of government and political participation.
"Corruption tends to be widespread and the rule of law is weak. Civil society is weak. Typically, there is harassment of and pressure on journalists, and the judiciary is not independent," as defined by The Economist Group's research and analysis division.
Bangladesh's score fell from 5.99 and its ranking dropped from 73rd in the 2022 index. The country scored the same in 2021 and 2020, while it scored 5.88 in 2019 and 5.57 in 2018.
On the first Democracy Index released in 2006, Bangladesh was categorised as a flawed democracy with a score of 6.11. The following year, its status demoted to the category of "hybrid regime" and it has remained so ever since.
Among the five categories, Bangladesh's score has only deteriorated in civil liberties to 4.71 in 2023 from 5.29 a year ago.
Meanwhile, Bangladesh's scores in electoral process and pluralism, the functioning of government, political participation and democratic political culture have remained unchanged at 7.42, 6.07, 5.56 and 5.63 respectively.
Democracy in South Asia
Bangladesh has remained in the third position among seven South Asian countries covered in the report.
The top performer in the region, India has moved five places up to rank 41st with an overall score of 7.18 in the 2023 index. It is followed by Sri Lanka, dropping 10 notches to rank 70th with a score of 6.17. Both countries were categorised as "flawed democracies".
Bhutan and Nepal did worse than Bangladesh, despite both of the countries jumping three places to 81st and 98th positions, respectively. These countries were categorised as "hybrid regimes".
Meanwhile, Pakistan registered the most deterioration in Asia—its score fell by 0.88 to 3.25, resulting in a fall of 11 places in the global ranking table, to 118th. Pakistan is the only Asian country to be downgraded, having been reclassified from a "hybrid regime" to an "authoritarian regime".
Afghanistan, classified as an "authoritarian regime", was at the bottom of the global ranking.
The Nordic countries – Norway, Iceland, Sweden, Finland and Denmark – continued to dominate the Democracy Index rankings, taking five of the top six spots, with New Zealand claiming second place.
