V-DEM DEMOCRACY REPORT 2026

Why In News?

The V-Dem Institute's Democracy Report 2026 ranked India 106th on the Electoral Democracy Index (EDI), marking its lowest score since 1975.

What is V-Dem (Varieties of Democracy)?

The Varieties of Democracy (V-Dem) Institute is an independent research organisation based at the Department of Political Science, University of Gothenburg, Sweden.

• World’s Largest Democracy Dataset: Gathers and analyzes over 450 distinct democratic indicators across 202 countries, spanning historical data from 1789 to the present.

• Expert-Coded Methodology: Relies on subjective evaluations provided by thousands of country experts, processed through Bayesian statistical measurement models to estimate latent democratic traits.

• Multi-Dimensional Conceptual Framework: Rejects the idea of democracy as a simple binary (democracy vs. dictatorship), measuring governance across five comprehensive principles.

Dimensions of Democracy Measured by V-Dem

1. Electoral Democracy Index (EDI): Foundational core of democracy; evaluates whether rulers are chosen through competitive, clean, free, and fair multi-party elections with universal adult franchise, free speech, and freedom of association.

2. Liberal Democracy Index (LDI): Combines the Electoral index with institutional checks and balances, independent judicial review, equality before the law, and strong protection of individual civil liberties against executive overreach.

3. Participatory Democracy Index (PDI): Measures the active participation of citizens beyond voting, including vibrant civil society organisations (CSOs), direct democratic voting, and decentralized local self-governance.

4. Deliberative Democracy Index (DDI): Evaluates whether political decisions are guided by respectful public debate, evidence-based reasoning, and consultative legislative scrutiny rather than authoritarian decrees.

5. Egalitarian Democracy Index (EDI-Eq): Assesses whether political power, constitutional rights, and public welfare resources are distributed equally across diverse social, economic, and religious groups.

Highlights of the V-Dem Democracy Report 2026

The V-Dem Democracy Report 2026, titled "Democracy Report 2026: Unraveling The Democratic Era?", was published by the Varieties of Democracy (V-Dem) Institute at the University of Gothenburg, Sweden. 

It highlights that global democracy has regressed to 1978 levels, effectively erasing nearly 50 years of democratic gains. 

Key Highlights

• Autocratisation Wave: A record 41% of the global population (residing in 44 countries) is currently undergoing "autocratisation".  

• Democracies Outnumbered: The report tallies 92 autocracies and 87 democracies globally. 

• Population Breakdown: A staggering 74% of the world's population lives in autocracies, while only 7% live in liberal democracies.  

• Major Regressions:

• For the first time in 50 years, the United States of America is no longer classified as a liberal democracy.

• New autocratisers identified include the UK, US, Italy, Croatia, and Slovakia.

• New democratizers include Botswana, Guatemala, and Mauritius. 

• Primary Targets: Freedom of expression is the hardest hit area (worsening in 44 countries), followed closely by media censorship and repression of civil society.

India-Specific Findings

• Status Classification: India continues to be classified as an "electoral autocracy", a category V-Dem has assigned to the country since 2017. 

• Index Rankings:

• Electoral Democracy Index (EDI): India ranks 106th out of 179 countries, scoring 0.38 (its lowest level since the 1975 Emergency).

• Liberal Democracy Index (LDI): India ranks 105th (down from 100th in the previous assessment). 

• Drivers of Decline: The report cites a systematic dismantling of democratic institutions, steep declines in judicial accountability, weakening autonomy of the Election Management Body (EMB), and targeted restrictions on academic, cultural, and media freedoms. 

Indian Counter-Perspective 

A research study by the Economic Advisory Council to the Prime Minister (EAC-PM), authored by Sanjeev Sanyal, exposed severe systemic biases in Western perception indices like V-Dem and Freedom House.

• Opaque Expert Selection: Indices rely on tiny, unaccountable panels of 5 to 10 subjective respondents per country, whose identities remain anonymous.

• Disregard for Massive Empirical Realities: Ignore the scale of Indian General Elections—conducting peaceful, transparent elections for 968+ million registered voters with a 66%+ voter turnout across 10+ lakh polling booths with 100% VVPAT-backed Electronic Voting Machines.

• Frequent Peaceful Power Alternation: Ruling parties routinely lose state and parliamentary elections across India, demonstrating robust, functioning multi-party competition.

Source: ANINEWS