UPSC Prelims Practice Questions — V-dem’s democracy index rates India at its lowest since 1975

Q1. The tenth edition of an annual flagship report, titled "Unraveling The Democratic Era?", was released in 2026 and placed India's electoral democracy score at a five-decade low. This report is which one of the following?

  • A. The Global State of Democracy Report, published by International IDEA, Stockholm
  • B. Freedom in the World, published by Freedom House, Washington D.C.
  • C. The Democracy Report, published by the V-Dem Institute, University of Gothenburg
  • D. The Democracy Index, published by the Economist Intelligence Unit, London

Q2. In V-Dem's multidimensional framework, what does the Electoral Democracy Index seek to capture?

  • A. The administrative efficiency and procedural transparency with which a country's election management body conducts polling, counting and declaration of results
  • B. The extent to which the polyarchy ideal is realised — elected officials, free and fair elections, freedom of expression and alternative information, associational autonomy and inclusive suffrage
  • C. The extent to which an elected executive is constrained by an independent judiciary, a strong legislature and robust protection of individual civil liberties
  • D. The level of voter turnout, effective party competition and frequency of alternation of governing parties across successive national elections

Q3. V-Dem's Democracy Report 2026 names the world's four most populous autocracies as of the end of 2025. Which one of the following is NOT among them?

  • A. China
  • B. Indonesia
  • C. Pakistan
  • D. Bangladesh

Q4. In V-Dem's Democracy Report 2026, India's slip of five places to rank 105 out of 179 countries was recorded on which one of the following indices?

  • A. Electoral Democracy Index
  • B. Liberal Democracy Index
  • C. Egalitarian Component Index
  • D. Deliberative Component Index

Q5. The Proclamation of Emergency of June 1975 — the benchmark against which India's 2026 electoral democracy score is being compared — was issued by which one of the following authorities?

  • A. The Prime Minister of India, acting under Article 356 of the Constitution
  • B. Parliament, by resolutions passed in both Houses by a special majority
  • C. The President of India, acting under Article 352 of the Constitution
  • D. The Union Council of Ministers, by notification in the Official Gazette

Q6. With reference to what V-Dem's Democracy Report 2026 says about India relative to the 1975 benchmark, consider the following: 1. India's Electoral Democracy Index score is reported as its lowest since 1975. 2. India's Electoral Democracy Index score has fallen in every single year without exception since 2009. 3. India is classified as an 'electoral autocracy' rather than as a closed autocracy. 4. Every one of India's V-Dem sub-indices is reported to be at its lowest level in 50 years. Which of the above is/are correctly identified?

  1. India's Electoral Democracy Index score is reported as its lowest since 1975.
  2. India's Electoral Democracy Index score has fallen in every single year without exception since 2009.
  3. India is classified as an 'electoral autocracy' rather than as a closed autocracy.
  4. Every one of India's V-Dem sub-indices is reported to be at its lowest level in 50 years.
  • A. 1 and 4
  • B. 2 and 3
  • C. 1 and 3
  • D. 1, 2 and 4

Q7. Consider the following statements comparing V-Dem's Democracy Report 2026 with its immediately preceding edition and with India's own sub-indicator record: 1. The number of countries classed as autocratising rose to 44 from 42 in the previous edition. 2. The autonomy of India's Election Management Body is among the sub-indicators reported at its lowest level in 50 years. 3. Impartial administration by public officials figures among India's sub-indicators at a 50-year low, whereas control of corruption does not. Which of the statements given above is/are correct?

  1. The number of countries classed as autocratising rose to 44 from 42 in the previous edition.
  2. The autonomy of India's Election Management Body is among the sub-indicators reported at its lowest level in 50 years.
  3. Impartial administration by public officials figures among India's sub-indicators at a 50-year low, whereas control of corruption does not.
  • A. 1 only
  • B. 1 and 2 only
  • C. 2 and 3 only
  • D. 1, 2 and 3

Q8. Apart from judicial accountability, control of corruption and Election Management Body autonomy, which one of the following is the remaining governance attribute that V-Dem's Democracy Report 2026 records at its lowest level for India in five decades?

  • A. Freedom of academic and cultural expression in the public sphere
  • B. The proportion of the adult population enjoying the legal right to vote
  • C. The proportion of national legislators chosen by direct popular election
  • D. Impartial and even-handed administration of public policy by public officials

Q9. Which one of the following best describes the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls carried out by the Election Commission of India, the exercise flagged in the UN CERD's 2026 findings on India?

  • A. A continuous online updation drive in which claims and objections are entertained round the year and no draft roll is separately published
  • B. A one-time seeding of every elector's entry with the biometric database maintained by the Unique Identification Authority of India
  • C. A pre-poll statistical audit of polling-station-wise turnout figures conducted by observers deputed to each parliamentary constituency
  • D. A house-to-house enumeration followed by publication of a draft roll with deletions, a claims-and-objections window and a final roll

Q10. Across the thirteen States and Union Territories that completed the first two phases of the Special Intensive Revision, which one of the following recorded the highest reduction in electors as a proportion of its electorate?

  • A. Andaman and Nicobar Islands
  • B. Uttar Pradesh
  • C. Bihar
  • D. Lakshadweep

Q11. Consider the following statements about how different rating bodies have classified India: 1. Freedom House moved India from 'Free' to 'Partly Free' in its Freedom in the World report in 2021, the first such downgrade since 1997. 2. The Economist Intelligence Unit's Democracy Index places India in the 'flawed democracy' category rather than in an autocracy category. 3. V-Dem first classified India as an 'electoral autocracy' in 2014. Which of the statements given above is/are correct?

  1. Freedom House moved India from 'Free' to 'Partly Free' in its Freedom in the World report in 2021, the first such downgrade since 1997.
  2. The Economist Intelligence Unit's Democracy Index places India in the 'flawed democracy' category rather than in an autocracy category.
  3. V-Dem first classified India as an 'electoral autocracy' in 2014.
  • A. 1 only
  • B. 1 and 2 only
  • C. 2 and 3 only
  • D. 1, 2 and 3

Q12. V-Dem dates the onset of India's gradual slide in its democracy scores — the trend culminating in the 2026 finding of a 50-year low — to which one of the following years?

  • A. 2004
  • B. 2007
  • C. 2009
  • D. 2018