Citizen support for democracy in India
India: Citizen support for democracy was -1.79 in 2020. ▼ Falling
Citizen support for democracy in India, 1995–2020
Source: Claassen (2022) – processed by Our World in Data.
Analysis
India recorded -1.79 for citizen support for democracy in 2020.
The figure is up 0.7% on the previous year and down 53.6% over ten years.
Over the whole period, citizen support for democracy in India peaked at -0.8826 in 2003 and was at its lowest, -1.8, in 2017.
That places India 142nd out of 144 countries with data for 2020, putting it in the bottom quarter.
The long-run direction has been consistently falling across the 26 years of available data.
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1990s | -1.05 | -1.1 | -0.994 | 5 |
| 2000s | -1.03 | -1.17 | -0.8826 | 10 |
| 2010s | -1.48 | -1.8 | -1.16 | 10 |
| 2020s | -1.79 | -1.79 | -1.79 | 1 |
Countries ranked near India
- 139 Mozambique -1.71 compare
- 140 Kyrgyzstan -1.72 compare
- 141 Thailand -1.74 compare
- 143 Pakistan -1.81 compare
- 144 Vietnam -1.85 compare
More social development data for India
- Political Rights Rating 2 (2025)
- Refugees under the mandate of the UNHCR by country or territory of asy 238,643 (2025)
- Refugees under the mandate of the UNHCR by country or territory of ori 42,610 (2025)
- Electoral democracy 1 (2025)
- Key features of democracy 0.377 (2025)
- Freedom of Expression Index 0.458 (2025)
- Freedom of Association Index 0.586 (2025)
- Electoral Democracy Index 0.377 (2025)
- Participatory Democracy Index 0.246 (2025)
- Liberal Democracy Index 0.26 (2025)
Frequently asked questions
- What is citizen support for democracy in India?
- Citizen support for democracy in India was -1.79 in 2020, according to Claassen (2022) – processed by Our World in Data.
- What is the highest citizen support for democracy recorded in India?
- The highest recorded value was -0.8826 in 2003.
- What is the lowest citizen support for democracy recorded in India?
- The lowest recorded value was -1.8 in 2017.
- How does India rank for citizen support for democracy?
- India ranks 142nd out of 144 countries with data for 2020.
- Is citizen support for democracy rising or falling in India?
- Over the last ten years it is down 53.6%. The long-run trend across the full record is falling.
- Where does this India data come from?
- The figures come from Claassen (2022) – processed by Our World in Data, published as part of Citizen support for democracy. Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.
Download this data
CSV · JSON — 26 observations, free to reuse under CC BY 4.0 (Our World in Data).
About this data
Central estimate of the average extent to which citizens support a democratic political system and reject autocratic alternatives. It combines responses across more than one thousand nationally-representative surveys on how desirable citizens find democracy, how they evaluate undemocratic alternatives (such as a strong unelected leader, the army, or religious authorities), and how they assess democratic and autocratic political systems relative to another.