Some PerspectiveAnalysis

Democracy

V-Dem score is at 1976-emergency levels

India's V-Dem Liberal Democracy score in 2026 (~0.26) is comparable to the score recorded during the 1975-1977 Emergency — when civil liberties were formally suspended. The current score has been reached without a formal Emergency declaration.

A democracy can be functionally undone without ever being formally suspended.

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About this reading

This is one of 36 standing analyses drawn from the Some Perspective dataset. It is not dated commentary: it describes a relationship in the data that holds across the series, and it is regenerated whenever the underlying dataset is refreshed. The figures quoted here reflect the 2026-08-15 data vintage.

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Raman, V.S. Some Perspective: India's Economic Transformation. someperspective.info · CC BY 4.0 · data vintage 2026-08-15. Cite & download · All analyses