The country’s democratic position has improved eight notches on the latest Democracy Index, compared to the previous year. Bangladesh ranks 80th with an overall score of 5.88 on the Democracy Index 2019, up from the 88th position with a score of 5.57 a year ago.
The Economist released its annual Democracy Index that provides a snapshot of the state of democracy in 165 independent states and two territories on Wednesday, said the past year was the bleakest for democracies since the research firm began compiling the list in 2006.
Despite the gain as per the latest index, the country is still classified as a hybrid regime and lags behind neighbouring India, a flawed democracy. According to Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU), the annual Democracy Index is based on five categories: electoral process and pluralism, civil liberties, the functioning of government, political participation and political culture. The index ranks countries based on their scores on 60 indicators, and then classifies them as one of four types of regime: full democracy, flawed democracy, hybrid regime and authoritarian regime.
Last year’s index studied political systems across 165 countries and two territories. The Economist Intelligence Unit said the year 2019 was the worst for democracies since 2006, with the average global score falling to 5.44 out of 10 from 5.48 in the preceding year. Only 22 countries, with a combined population of 430 million, were classified as “full democracies” in 2019, while more than a third of the world’s population were found to be living under authoritarian rule. The list was topped by Norway, while North Korea was at the bottom.
The global decline was driven mainly by regions such as Latin America, Sub-Saharan Africa, West Asia and North Africa. Most Asian countries declined in the rankings in a “tumultuous” year that saw various protests and government restrictions on freedom.