the Indian Prime Minister refusing to interact with the press in your countries? Modi has not given a single press conference in his entire tenure in India. I was doubtful he'd change in the EU, and it seems I was right.
Nearly 3 in 5 Indians, roughly 840 million people, rely on the Public Distribution System (PDS) for their sustenance.
The PDS is a food security system that was established by the Government of India to distribute food and non-food items to India's poor at subsidised rates. Major commodities distributed include staple food grains, such as wheat, rice, sugar and essential fuels like kerosene, through a network of ration shops established across the country.
In addition, another 11% are covered under state schemes. Including the population covered under state schemes, 950 million persons were covered by the PDS. PDS can include both subsidised and free foodstuffs.
The government spent $24.5B in food subsidies in fiscal year 2024/25, not including state spending. This is larger than many countries' military spending, and even health and education in total for some.
And despite decades of spending on food availability, nearly 75% of rural residents and 50% of urban residents still rely on rations. In a country with a space program, prosperous middle class, and a full assortment of wealthy elite. Really, this is a display of India's inequality and giant population more than anything else.
What can be done to reduce dependency? India is one of the largest agricultural producers, and yet a majority of our populace can't meet their food requirements in only the market. The current system has many flaws, including poor quality food and rampant corruption, and yet many would starve without it.
The following are the twelve best nations judged by quality of democracy according to Democracy Matrix.
| 1 | Denmark | 0.958 | Working Democracy |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2 | Norway | 0.956 | Working Democracy |
| 3 | Finland | 0.946 | Working Democracy |
| 4 | Sweden | 0.946 | Working Democracy |
| 5 | Germany | 0.944 | Working Democracy |
| 6 | Switzerland | 0.934 | Working Democracy |
| 7 | Netherlands | 0.93 | Working Democracy |
| 8 | New Zealand | 0.928 | Working Democracy |
| 9 | Belgium | 0.925 | Working Democracy |
| 10 | Costa Rica | 0.914 | Working Democracy |
| 11 | Spain | 0.912 | Working Democracy |
| 12 | Luxembourg | 0.905 | Working Democracy |
Of these, seven (Denmark, Norway, Sweden, the Netherlands, Belgium, Spain, and Luxembourg) are constitutional monarchies.
Does having a constitutional monarch contribute to a strong democracy? Or is this merely the benefit of social democracy? And if so, does social democracy attribute some of its success to the presence of a monarch?