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[[File:V-Dem Electoral Democracy Index 2026 Asia.svg|alt=|thumb|[[V-Dem Democracy Indices|V-Dem Electoral Democracy Index]] in Asia for year 2025<ref name="j496"/>
{{Col-begin}}
{{Col-break}}
{{Legend|#0c3091|0.90–1.00}}
{{legend|#2f5cd5|0.80–0.89}}
{{legend|#6bd2df|0.70–0.79}}
{{legend|#c3eded|0.60–0.69}}
{{Col-break}}
{{legend|#f9f8bb|0.50–0.59}}
{{legend|#fad45d|0.40–0.49}}
{{legend|#da820f|0.30–0.39}}
{{legend|#a8261f|0.20–0.29}}
{{Col-break}}
{{legend|#66000f|0.10–0.19}}
{{legend|#240011|0.00–0.09}}
{{legend|#c0c0c0|No data}}
{{Col-end}}|upright=1.5]]

'''Democracy in Asia''' can be [[comparative politics|comparatively]] assessed<ref name="Geissel Kneuer Lauth 2016 pp. 571–579">{{cite journal | last1=Geissel | first1=Brigitte | last2=Kneuer | first2=Marianne | last3=Lauth | first3=Hans-Joachim | title=Measuring the quality of democracy: Introduction | journal=[[International Political Science Review]] | publisher=Sage Publications | volume=37 | issue=5 | year=2016 | issn=0192-5121| jstor=26556872 | pages=571–579 | doi=10.1177/0192512116669141 | s2cid=151808737 | url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/26556872 | access-date=2023-04-03| url-access=subscription }}</ref> according to various definitions of democracy.<ref name="Greenwood 2022">{{cite web | last=Greenwood | first=Shannon | title=Appendix A: Classifying democracies | website=Pew Research Center's Global Attitudes Project | date=2022-12-06 | url=https://www.pewresearch.org/global/2022/12/06/online-civic-engagement-spring-2022-appendix-a-classifying-democracies/ | access-date=2022-12-27}}</ref> According to the V-Dem Democracy indices, the Asian countries with the highest [[Democracy indices|democracy scores]] in year 2025 were [[Taiwan]], [[Japan]], [[South Korea]], [[Cyprus]] and [[Sri Lanka]], meanwhile the Asian countries with lowest democracy scores in 2023 are [[Saudi Arabia]], [[Qatar]] and [[Afghanistan]].<ref name="vdem_dataset">{{cite web |last=V-Dem Institute |date=2023 |title=The V-Dem Dataset |url=https://www.v-dem.net/data/the-v-dem-dataset/ |access-date=14 October 2023}}</ref> [[Democratic backsliding]] can be observed in parts of Asia.<ref>{{cite journal | url=https://doi.org/10.1080/13510347.2020.1851203 | doi=10.1080/13510347.2020.1851203 | title=Democratic regression in Asia: Introduction | date=2021 | last1=Croissant | first1=Aurel | last2=Haynes | first2=Jeffrey | journal=Democratization | volume=28 | pages=1–21 | url-access=subscription }}</ref> The [[V-Dem Institute#Democracy Report|V-Dem Democracy Report]] identified for the year 2025 Timor Leste, Thailand and Sri Lanka as a cases of ongoing [[democratization]].<ref name="j496"/>

==By country==
* [[Democracy in Afghanistan]]
* [[Democracy in Bangladesh]]
* [[Democratic Constitutional Monarchy|Democracy in Bhutan]]
* [[Democracy in China]]
** [[Democracy in Hong Kong]]
* [[Democracy in India]]
* [[Democracy in Iraq]]
* [[Democracy in Pakistan]]

== Measures of democracy == 
The table below shows Asian countries scored on [[V-Dem Democracy indices]] for year 2024.<ref name="j496">{{cite web | title=Democracy Report 2026, Unraveling The Democratic Era? | url=https://v-dem.net/documents/75/V-Dem_Institute_Democracy_Report_2026_lowres.pdf | access-date=2026-03-17}}</ref><ref name="l511">{{cite web | date=2025| title=The V-Dem Dataset – V-Dem | website=V-Dem | url=https://v-dem.net/data/the-v-dem-dataset/ | access-date=14 March 2025  |publisher=V-Dem Institute}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last1=Coppedge |first1=Michael |title=Varieties of Democracy: Measuring Two Centuries of Political Change |last2=Gerring |first2=John |last3=Glynn |first3=Adam |last4=Knutsen |first4=Carl Henrik |last5=Lindberg |first5=Staffan I. |author-link5=Staffan I. Lindberg |last6=Pemstein |first6=Daniel |last7=Seim |first7=Brigitte |last8=Skaaning |first8=Svend-Erik |last9=Teorell |first9=Jan |date=January 2020 |publisher=[[Cambridge University Press]] |isbn=9781108347860 |doi=10.1017/9781108347860 |display-authors=5 |last10=Altman |first10=David |last11=Bernhard |first11=Michael |last12=Bizzarro |first12=Fernando |last13=Krusell |first13=Joshua |last14=Maguire |first14=Matthew |last15=Marquardt |first15=Kyle |last16=McMann |first16=Kelly |last17=Mechkova |first17=Valeriya |last18=Miri |first18=Farhad |last19=Pernes |first19=Josefine |last20=Staton |first20=Jeffrey |last21=Stepanova |first21=Natalia |last22=Tzelgov |first22=Eitan |last23=Wang |first23=Yi-ting}}</ref>
{{static row numbers}}
{|class="wikitable sortable mw-collapsible static-row-numbers static-row-header-hash"
|+{{nowrap|V-Dem Democracy Indices}}
!rowspan="2" | Country 
!colspan="2" | Democracy Indices
!colspan="4" | Democracy Component Indices
|- class="static-row-header"
!Electoral
!Liberal
!Liberal
!Egalitarian
!Participatory
!Deliberative
|-
| {{flaglist| Japan }}
| 0.82
| 0.73
| 0.9
| 0.94
| 0.56
| 0.9
|-
| {{flaglist| South Korea }}
| 0.82
| 0.74
| 0.91
| 0.87
| 0.61
| 0.94
|-
| {{flaglist| Taiwan }}
| 0.8
| 0.7
| 0.89
| 0.88
| 0.8
| 0.86
|-
| {{flaglist| Sri Lanka }}
| 0.78
| 0.61
| 0.76
| 0.71
| 0.61
| 0.78
|-
| {{flaglist| East Timor }}
| 0.74
| 0.55
| 0.71
| 0.58
| 0.56
| 0.7
|-
| {{flaglist| Israel }}
| 0.69
| 0.59
| 0.85
| 0.78
| 0.6
| 0.71
|-
| {{flaglist| Nepal }}
| 0.66
| 0.5
| 0.75
| 0.58
| 0.62
| 0.54
|-
| {{flaglist| Armenia }}
| 0.61
| 0.37
| 0.53
| 0.78
| 0.42
| 0.55
|-
| {{flaglist| Bhutan }}
| 0.57
| 0.46
| 0.79
| 0.81
| 0.55
| 0.9
|-
| {{flaglist| Maldives }}
| 0.56
| 0.42
| 0.72
| 0.61
| 0.49
| 0.72
|-
| {{flaglist| Mongolia }}
| 0.54
| 0.42
| 0.76
| 0.66
| 0.43
| 0.83
|-
| {{flaglist| Malaysia }}
| 0.5
| 0.36
| 0.64
| 0.71
| 0.53
| 0.66
|-
| {{flaglist| Indonesia }}
| 0.46
| 0.3
| 0.56
| 0.45
| 0.57
| 0.74
|-
| {{flaglist| Singapore }}
| 0.43
| 0.36
| 0.77
| 0.79
| 0.14
| 0.75
|-
| {{flaglist| Thailand }}
| 0.42
| 0.31
| 0.67
| 0.49
| 0.33
| 0.35
|-
| {{flaglist| Lebanon }}
| 0.42
| 0.27
| 0.54
| 0.5
| 0.42
| 0.76
|-
| {{flaglist| Philippines }}
| 0.39
| 0.29
| 0.64
| 0.31
| 0.56
| 0.54
|-
| {{flaglist| India }}
| 0.38
| 0.26
| 0.57
| 0.41
| 0.54
| 0.57
|-
| {{flaglist| Iraq }}
| 0.37
| 0.22
| 0.48
| 0.41
| 0.49
| 0.62
|-
| {{flaglist| Kyrgyzstan }}
| 0.31
| 0.18
| 0.42
| 0.59
| 0.37
| 0.32
|-
| {{flaglist| Pakistan }}
| 0.3
| 0.18
| 0.42
| 0.26
| 0.47
| 0.43
|-
| {{flaglist| Turkey }}
| 0.29
| 0.11
| 0.23
| 0.54
| 0.4
| 0.13
|-
| {{flaglist| Jordan }}
| 0.28
| 0.27
| 0.76
| 0.56
| 0.31
| 0.74
|-
| {{flaglist| Kazakhstan }}
| 0.26
| 0.13
| 0.33
| 0.56
| 0.25
| 0.5
|-
| {{flaglist| Uzbekistan }}
| 0.22
| 0.08
| 0.19
| 0.44
| 0.2
| 0.45
|-
| {{flaglist| Bangladesh }}
| 0.2
| 0.12
| 0.34
| 0.33
| 0.28
| 0.48
|-
| {{flaglist| Cambodia }}
| 0.18
| 0.05
| 0.12
| 0.24
| 0.15
| 0.22
|-
| {{flaglist| Oman }}
| 0.18
| 0.14
| 0.44
| 0.56
| 0.37
| 0.21
|-
| {{flaglist| Azerbaijan }}
| 0.17
| 0.05
| 0.13
| 0.39
| 0.1
| 0.07
|-
| {{flaglist| Russia }}
| 0.17
| 0.06
| 0.15
| 0.41
| 0.39
| 0.16
|-
| {{flaglist| Iran }}
| 0.16
| 0.1
| 0.32
| 0.5
| 0.1
| 0.28
|-
| {{flaglist| Tajikistan }}
| 0.16
| 0.04
| 0.11
| 0.17
| 0.16
| 0.12
|-
| {{flaglist| Turkmenistan }}
| 0.15
| 0.03
| 0.08
| 0.27
| 0.08
| 0.06
|-
| {{flaglist| Vietnam }}
| 0.15
| 0.1
| 0.33
| 0.55
| 0.56
| 0.62
|-
| {{flaglist| Bahrain }}
| 0.14
| 0.06
| 0.19
| 0.43
| 0.16
| 0.18
|-
| {{flaglist| Kuwait }}
| 0.14
| 0.13
| 0.43
| 0.59
| 0.15
| 0.6
|-
| {{flaglist| Laos }}
| 0.14
| 0.11
| 0.36
| 0.38
| 0.4
| 0.18
|-
| {{flaglist| Syria }}
| 0.13
| 0.05
| 0.17
| 0.43
| 0.18
| 0.59
|-
| {{flaglist| Yemen }}
| 0.13
| 0.04
| 0.12
| 0.09
| 0.23
| 0.11
|-
| {{flaglist| United Arab Emirates }}
| 0.1
| 0.08
| 0.26
| 0.44
| 0.09
| 0.29
|-
| {{flaglist| North Korea }}
| 0.08
| 0.01
| 0.03
| 0.34
| 0.15
| 0.02
|-
| {{flaglist| Myanmar }}
| 0.08
| 0.02
| 0.04
| 0.2
| 0.14
| 0.12
|-
| {{flaglist| China }}
| 0.07
| 0.04
| 0.14
| 0.29
| 0.12
| 0.23
|-
| {{flaglist| Afghanistan }}
| 0.07
| 0.02
| 0.06
| 0.05
| 0.18
| 0.03
|-
| {{flaglist| Qatar }}
| 0.03
| 0.09
| 0.35
| 0.39
| 0.13
| 0.47
|-
| {{flaglist| Saudi Arabia }}
| 0.02
| 0.05
| 0.18
| 0.45
| 0.1
| 0.28
|}

==See also==
* [[Democracy in Africa]]
* [[Democracy in the Americas]]
* [[Democracy in Europe]]
* [[Democracy in the Middle East and North Africa]]
* [[Democratic backsliding by country – Asia]]

==References==
{{Reflist|30em}}

{{Asia topic|Democracy in}}
{{Asia topic|Elections in}}
{{Asia topics}}

[[Category:Democracy by location]]
[[Category:Politics of Asia]]