Democracy Index Up, but Big Challenges Remain

Indonesia's score on the 2021 Democracy Index rose to 6.71 from 6.30 in 2020, thanks to the Constitutional Court's decision stating that the Job Creation Law was conditionally unconstitutional.

KOMPAS/RADITYA HELABUMI (RAD)

The book launch ceremony and socialization of the 2018 Indonesian Democracy Index by the Coordinating Ministry for Political, Legal and Security Affairs, Ministry of Home Affairs, Central Statistics Agency, and Ministry of National Planning and Development in Jakarta, Thursday (26/9/2019). The 2018 Indonesian Democracy Index reached 72.39 points, an increase of 0.28 compared to 2017..

JAKARTA, KOMPAS — The increase in Indonesia's score on the global 2021 Democracy Index deserves appreciation, but the big challenge ahead is to improve the quality of democracy with Indonesia still falling in the category of “flawed democracy”. The protection of civil liberties, the independence of judicial institutions, as well as the alignment of government policies and the will of the public are points that can help improve the quality of the country’s democracy.

The 2021 Democracy Index released by The Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU) early this month awards Indonesia a score of 6.71 on a scale of zero to 10. The higher the score, the better the state of democracy in a country is. Indonesia’s score increased from 6.30 the year before, which was the country’s lowest achievement since the EIU began compiling the Democracy Index in 2006.