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ShareNew Delhi: India's election juggernaut is on the roll.
So dramatic is the process that wide-eyed bystanders from the West are flocking here to watch the dust thrown up by the world's largest democratic exercise. But does that make us a perfect democracy? No, says a worldwide study, we need to work harder to join the elite club of perfect democracies.
The Economist Intelligence Unit's 2008 Democracy index ranks India 35th among "flawed democracies" of the world, five places short of the list of perfect specimens. Using 60 indicators such as civil liberties, political culture, public participation and government efficiency, the list classifies most western democracies as perfect along with a few from Asia and Central/South America.
Sri Lanka sits 22 places below us, while Pakistan and Bangladesh are ranked among hybrid regimes, one category above the authoritarian regimes.
Interestingly, Pakistan has managed to kick itself up thanks to the elections last year. Bangladesh, on the other hand, fell one level from being a flawed democracy.
All in all, said Manoj Vohra, director of research with the unit, India had not done badly. "While India's democracy, in technical terms, is flawed, it's close to joining the elite club of democracies... India is ahead of most emerging economies," he said.
Predictably, Indian politicians are not convinced by the span of the study. Congress spokesperson Manish Tiwari says: "Whoever is responsible for this report needs to see a shrink. India is one country which has a functioning and vibrant democracy from the grassroots to the top. This is a country where you have panchayati raj institutions at village level, legislative assemblies in states and a parliament at the national level, all of which are regularly elected. Anyone who calls this a flawed democracy should needs to get his head examined."
The problem is that it takes more than well-organised electoral logistics to impress the unit. The level of voter enthusiasm varies wildly between Indian states. And coalition chaos has managed to drag India further down.
Ravi Shankar Prasad, BJP spokesperson, said: "India does not need a lecture on democracy from biased western intellectuals. The people of this country have unfettered right to choose or unseat any party or leader whether at local, state or national level. We gave voting rights to all people regardless of educational level, and even to women in 1950 itself, when many countries of the world were still only thinking about it."
