Electoral autocracy is a

hybrid regime A hybrid regime is a type of political system often created as a result of an incomplete democratic transition from an authoritarian regime to a Democracy, democratic one (or vice versa). Hybrid regimes are categorized as having a combination of ...

, in which democratic institutions are imitative and adhere to

authoritarian Authoritarianism is a political system characterized by the rejection of political plurality, the use of strong central power to preserve the political ''status quo'', and reductions in democracy, separation of powers, civil liberties, and ...

methods. In these regimes, regular elections are held, but they are accused of failing to reach democratic standards of freedom and fairness.

Electoral autocracies around the world

Hungary under Orbán government

In September 2022 the

European Parliament The European Parliament (EP) is one of the two legislative bodies of the European Union and one of its seven institutions. Together with the Council of the European Union (known as the Council and informally as the Council of Ministers), it ...

passed a resolution that due to "a breakdown in democracy, the rule of law and fundamental rights in

Hungary Hungary is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Spanning much of the Pannonian Basin, Carpathian Basin, it is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine to the northeast, Romania to the east and southeast, Serbia to the south, Croatia and ...

" the country turned into "a hybrid regime of electoral autocracy".

India under Modi government

In 2021, the Swedish political research institute Varieties of Democracy (V-Dem) lowered India's

ranking A ranking is a relationship between a set of items, often recorded in a list, such that, for any two items, the first is either "ranked higher than", "ranked lower than", or "ranked equal to" the second. In mathematics, this is known as a weak ...

from flawed democracy to electoral autocracy, citing alleged increasing nationalist rhetoric and diminishing freedom of expression under the government of

Bharatiya Janata Party The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP; , ) is a political party in India and one of the two major List of political parties in India, Indian political parties alongside the Indian National Congress. BJP emerged out from Syama Prasad Mukherjee's ...

(BJP) and its Prime Minister

Narendra Modi Narendra Damodardas Modi (born 17 September 1950) is an Indian politician who has served as the Prime Minister of India, prime minister of India since 2014. Modi was the chief minister of Gujarat from 2001 to 2014 and is the Member of Par ...

. United States-based

Freedom House Freedom House is a nonprofit organization based in Washington, D.C. It is best known for political advocacy surrounding issues of democracy, Freedom (political), political freedom, and human rights. Freedom House was founded in October 1941, wi ...

also lowered Indian democracy ranking from free democracy to a "partially free democracy". In the same year, Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance classified India as a

backsliding Backsliding, also known as falling away or described as "committing apostasy", is a term used within Christianity to describe a process by which an individual who has converted to Christianity reverts to pre- conversion habits and/or lapses or ...

democracy, citing similar reasons. According to ''The Guardian'', the Indian government dismissed the reports, saying self-appointed people cannot be custodian of democracy for India, but expressing concern about the reputational damage caused by the changing designations.

References

{{Reflist Political systems Types of democracy Autocracy

Electoral autocracies around the world

Hungary under Orbán government

India under Modi government

See also

References