India Ranked 38th in Index of Democracy; U.S. 21st


Washington: Even as it acknowledges India as the world's most populous democracy, the Economist magazine's Index of Democracy 2012 ranks India 38th among 165 nations with an overall score of 7.52.

India also gets high scores for electoral process and pluralism (9.58) and Civil liberties (9.41).

The top three positions go to Norway (9.93) Sweden (9.73) and Iceland 9.65, while the United States is ranked 21st with an overall score of 8.11 in the fifth edition of the Index prepared by the London weekly focusing on international politics and business.

Noting the wide disparities in democratic development across Asia, the report says "although parts of the region - from North Korea and Laos, to Vietnam and China - are still entrenched authoritarian regimes, the past couple of decades have seen the spread of democracy in the region overall."

Over the past decade, some 20 Asian countries have held elections, and many have undergone peaceful transitions in government.

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Source: IANS