Democracy Index: Bangladesh slips two notches
Bangladesh has slipped two notches in the latest global democracy ranking by the Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU). Now, it's ranked 75th in the world.
According to the Democracy Index 2023, Bangladesh remained a "hybrid regime". The index has been putting Bangladesh in the category since 2008.
In 2022 index, Bangladesh was placed at 73.
The latest report said that the last year was "an inauspicious year for democracy" with the average global score falling to its lowest level since the index began in 2006.
According to the report, less than 8 percent of the world's population live in a full democracy, while almost 40 percent live under authoritarian rule --a share that has been creeping up in recent years.
The report said eight of the ten most populous countries in the world -- Bangladesh, Brazil, India, Indonesia, Mexico, Pakistan, Russia, and the US – have held or will hold elections in 2024.
"In half of these, elections are neither free nor fair and many other prerequisites of democracy, such as freedom of speech and association, are absent," said the report.
"Unsurprisingly, elections in Bangladesh, Pakistan, and Russia -- where opposition forces are subject to state repression-- will not bring regime change or more democracy," said the report.
The index puts countries according to its findings in 4 categories: "full democracy", "flawed democracy", "hybrid regime" or "authoritarian regime".
The countries are judged based on their electoral process and pluralism in politics, how their government functions, on political participation, political culture, and on the extent of civil liberties.
Bangladesh's lowest score was in the category of civil liberties, followed by political participation. Its highest score was in the category of electoral process.
The index also judges whether national elections are free and fair, assesses the security of voters, the level of influence of foreign powers on government and the capability of the civil service to implement policies.
A hybrid regime is defined as one where "elections have substantial irregularities that often prevent them from being both free and fair. Government pressure on opposition parties and candidates may be common. Serious weaknesses are more prevalent than in flawed democracies -- in 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."
"South Asia and Southeast Asia already had the lowest scores of all the continent's sub-regions, and setbacks in Bangladesh, Cambodia, Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Thailand mean that the two regions have fallen even further behind," said the index.
Pakistan has nosedived in the index, and is now being considered an authoritarian regime. Both Bhutan and Nepal's score is lower than that of Bangladesh, while Sri Lanka scored higher, and is considered a flawed democracy.
Afghanistan ranked the worst, being classified as the worst authoritarian regime in the world, while Myanmar is the second-worst. Myanmar is worse than North Korea.
According to the index, both the US and India are flawed democracies, while Canada, Norway, Finland and Sweden are full democracies.