Pakistan democracy ranking drops to ‘authoritarian’ status in 2023 EIU report

The latest Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU) report, titled "Age of Conflict," revealed a serious setback for democracy worldwide, attributed to the outbreak of wars, the rise of authoritarianism, and declining trust in political parties.

The EIU categorised 165 independent states and two territories into four regime categories, full democracy, flawed democracy, hybrid regime, and authoritarian regime, to analyse their democratic performance.

The top three countries in the latest report are Norway, New Zealand, and Iceland, while the bottom three are North Korea, Myanmar, and Afghanistan.

Despite a rise in the number of democracies, the global democracy index score hit a historic low of 5.23 in 2023, down from the previous year's 5.29. This marks the lowest score since the index's was first published in 2006.

In the Asian region, Pakistan experienced the most significant decline, with its score dropping to 3.25. This led to a downgrade from a 'hybrid regime' to an 'authoritarian regime' and a plummet of 11 places in the global ranking.

More than half of the 28 countries in Asia witnessed a slump in their scores (15), with only eight showing improvement.

The average score for Asia and Australasia has declined to its lowest point since the first Democracy Index in 2006. Download our free report to find out why: https://t.co/2eitmQsAUI pic.twitter.com/CmzW6SXd3I

— Economist Intelligence: EIU (@TheEIU) February 16, 2024

Six countries in the index experienced a change in their classification. Greece transitioned to a full democracy, while Papua New Guinea and Paraguay progressed from 'hybrid regimes' to 'flawed democracies.' Angola was upgraded from its authoritarian classification to a 'hybrid regime.'

Although the country held the polls recently, but EIU suggests, “Unsurprisingly, elections in Bangladesh, Pakistan and Russia — where opposition forces are subject to state repression — will not bring regime change or more democracy.”

The worsening performance is caused by poor scroes in the indicators of  ‘electoral process and pluralism’ and ‘functioning of government’, which, the report attributes to the “outsized political influence of the military… means that elections are far from being free, fair or competitive.”

The EIU classified India as a flawed democracy, stating that while elections allow for change, the incumbent party usually emerges victorious. According to their detailed assessment, India has seen improvements in the 'functioning of government' and 'political culture,' but a decline in 'civil liberties.'

The EIU highlighted a significant global shift in economic power, fuelled by China's rapid rise over the last four decades. This shift includes other Asian economies like India, Indonesia, Japan, Singapore, South Korea, and Thailand, with four of them already among the G20's top 20 richest nations. The report notes that developed Western economies are now a minority, and this trend is expected to continue in the coming decades.