ZCZC
BSS-37
EIU-DEMOCRACY-INDEX
Bangladesh moves up 4 notches in EIU Democracy Index
DHAKA, Feb 3, 2021 (BSS) – Bangladesh has maintained its advancement in
the ranking of the global democratic indicator as the country has moved up
four notches on the latest Democracy Index 2020 of the Economist Intelligence
Unit (EIU).
Bangladesh has been ranked 76th with an overall score 5.99 on scale of 10.
The country secured 7.42 scores in electoral process and pluralism category,
6.07 in functioning of government, 6.11 in political participation, 5.63 in
political culture and 4.71 in civil liberties, according to the report
prepared by the research and analysis division of The Economist Group.
In the EIU Democracy Indices 2019 and 2018, Bangladesh ranked 80th and
88th respectively.
In 2020 a large majority of countries, 116 of a total of 167 recorded a
decline in their total score compared with 2019. Only 38 countries recorded
an improvement and the other 13 stagnated, with their scores remaining
unchanged compared with 2019.
In the 2020 Democracy Index, 75 of the 167 countries and territories
covered by the model, or 44.9 percent of the total, are considered to be
democracies. The number of “full democracies” increased to 23 in 2020, up
from 22 in 2019.
The number of “flawed democracies” fell by two, to 52. Of the remaining 92
countries in our index, 57 are “authoritarian regimes”, up from 54 in 2019,
and 35 are classified as “hybrid regimes”, down from 37 in 2019.
In 2020 its strength was further tested by the outbreak of the coronavirus
(Covid-19) pandemic. The average global score in the 2020 Democracy Index
fell from 5.44 in 2019 to 5.37. This is by far the worst global score since
the index was first produced in 2006.
The 2020 result represents a significant deterioration and came about
largely-but not solely-because of government-imposed restrictions on
individual freedoms and civil liberties that occurred across the globe in
response to the coronavirus pandemic.
The Economist Intelligence Unit’s Democracy Index provides a snapshot of
the state of democracy worldwide in 165 independent states and two
territories. This covers almost the entire population of the world and the
vast majority of the world’s states.
The Democracy Index is based on five categories: electoral process and
pluralism, the functioning of government, political participation, political
culture, and civil liberties.
Based on its scores on a range of indicators within these categories, each
country is then itself classified as one of four types of regime: “full
democracy”, “flawed democracy”, “hybrid regime” or “authoritarian regime”.
BSS/PR/SAH/TAN/RY/1938hrs