New Delhi: Even as Elections 2004 are being seen as a reaffirmation of the strength of Indian democracy, a study of 25 countries across the world has rated India as a "weak democracy" on account of corruption and lack of accountability in its public institutions.

The Global Integrity Report, prepared by US-based Center for Public Integrity after a year-long study of 25 nations around the world, has put India in the "weak" category on a 'public integrity index', which is a measure of the existence and effectiveness of laws and institutions that promote accountability and limit corruption.

Giving a timeline of corruption over the past two decades in the country, the report stated that "the absence of any meaningful law to monitor the funding of political parties has been a glaring limitation in the Indian electoral or political system".

There was also a "clear lack of transparency" about the source of party funds and there was no provision for mandatory disclosure of accounts statements, it said.

The report further said a major bottleneck in the Indian democratic and legal framework has been lack of transparency about the functioning of the Government.

"This lack of transparency empowered the bureaucracy in significant ways and paved the way for abuse of power," it said.