This volume examines and analyses electoral politics in Sri Lanka through the theoretical framework of manipulation. The following questions guided the study: how do political actors manipulate elections, and what are the salient features of electoral politics in Sri Lanka? Primary and secondary data formed the basis of the analysis, examining eight presidential elections. The research findings indicated that Sri Lankan governments, political parties and political leaders have taken advantage of six types of electoral manipulation, including constitutional tinkering, field fixing, time fixing, vote suppression, process manipulation and resource manipulation. Through a close examination of eight presidential elections, research carried out for the volume found that elections are often associated with violence; presidential elections are mainly a majoritarian affair in which minority communities play only a marginal role; there is a significant gender imbalance, as women’s participation in the electoral process is very limited; despite the presence of a large number of candidates contesting the election, it always remains a two-way race; and amid extensive manipulation and other problems, voter participation tends to be high. This volume will be a valuable resource for students, academics and researchers who focus on democracy, good governance, electoral studies and South Asian politics and history, and will enhance the conceptual foundation of democracy advocates and activists.

Sri Lanka has been through turbulent times, overcome by a devastating civil war, yet able to sustain a system of parliamentary government. This study recounts a critical decade of electoral politics in Sri Lanka from 1994 to 2004, situated in the context of a militant ethnic conflict, that includes four General Elections and a Presidential election. The new politics of Sri Lanka, evident in this decade, is marked by a party system that is increasingly fractured, a politics increasingly divided over symbolic cultural issues, and the tension inherent in a mixed executive system. The coalitional dynamics of this new politics represents a decisive break with the welfarist politics of the post-independence period evolved within the Westminster system, a legacy of the colonial past. In a Postscript, Jayasuriya examines the politics of tsunami as it impacts on the critical fault lines of Sir Lankan politics in the North, East and South as well as the neo-geopolitics. This volume will be essential to anyone interested in Sri Lanka's unique experience as a third-world country with democratic political processes and instruments for over five decades.

This book systematically maps the evolution of the party–voter nexus of the United National Party (UNP) and Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP). In doing so, it argues that these parties rely mostly on a complex Web of patronage-based networks to mobilise electorates. They employ informal and highly dynamic, loosely knit networks as their organisational structures at the local level. They mainly focus on mobilising voters through local political actors rather than maintaining clear party bases and membership schemes. The study highlights the salience of personalities at the national as well as local levels in forming electoral support for the parties. These individuals exploit their economic, social, and cultural capital to mobilise the most efficient network that would strengthen their party during elections. The study also analyses the emergence of two new coalition centres from within these traditional parties, the Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna (SLPP) and Samagi Jana Balawegaya (SJB), and argues that these parties, though portraying themselves as new, have in fact retained the overall logic of the party–voter nexus by appropriating the organisational schemes and structures of their predecessors.

A detailed comparative analysis of electorates in Sri Lanka. It addresses issues that are relevant not only to South Asia but to the developing world in general and will therefore be of interest to specialists and students of South Asia, comparative politics, sociology and anthropology.