India vs Bangladesh: Democracy Next Door 🇮🇳🇧🇩
India and Bangladesh: democracy score (0–100), 1950-2026.
India: 26 (1950) → 29 (1975) → 58 (2000) → 42 (2015) → 26 (2026, estimate)
Bangladesh: 16 (1950) → 12 (1975) → 28 (2000) → 11 (2015) → 12 (2026, estimate)
Type of regime in 2026: India electoral autocracy · Bangladesh closed autocracy
What the number means: 80+ = a strong democracy (Denmark, Belgium); 20 or less = elections are not free or there are none.
A country can hold elections and still score low when the press is muzzled, opponents are jailed or the courts obey the government.
Terms used:
- Democracy score (0-100) = V-Dem's liberal democracy index x 100: how free and fair the elections are AND how well courts, parliament and the law limit the government.
- Closed autocracy = no real multi-party elections for the leader or parliament (e.g. one-party state, military rule, absolute monarchy).
- Electoral autocracy = there are elections, but they are not free or fair (opponents jailed, media controlled, votes manipulated).
- Electoral democracy = free and fair multi-party elections, with freedom of speech and association.
- Liberal democracy = an electoral democracy PLUS strong courts, the rule of law, limits on the government and protection of individual rights.
- 2026 estimate = the latest real value (2025) is kept for 2026, because the new data are not out yet.
Democracy score = the V-Dem liberal democracy index (0 to 1) shown as 0 to 100. It measures free and fair elections, free speech and free media, and limits on power: independent courts, a strong parliament, the rule of law and protection of individual rights. Hundreds of country experts score every country every year.
Data: V-Dem (Varieties of Democracy) dataset v16 (2026), liberal democracy index, via Our World in Data, 1900-2025; 2026 = 2025 value kept (estimate). Regime types: V-Dem Regimes of the World.
🎵 Music: Winter_s_First_Light
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