Electoral Allegiance in Sri Lanka

by Dilesh Jayanntha

Overview

This is the first detailed comparative analysis of electorates in Sri Lanka since 1947. Dilesh Jayanntha examines electoral allegiance in three contrasting constituencies—Sandville, Mirville and Jung Town—and demonstrates how patronage networks based initially on wealth and later on access to and control of state institutions determined electoral allegiance. Often the patronage network was congruent with caste. But, as Jayanntha shows, where the patron-client tie cut across the caste tie it was the former which proved decisive in deciding electoral allegiance.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780521029759
Publisher:	Cambridge University Press
Publication date:	11/02/2006
Series:	Cambridge South Asian Studies , #48
Pages:	232
Product dimensions:	5.47(w) x 8.46(h) x 0.55(d)

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments; List of abbreviations; 1. Introduction; 2. Bluville: the constituency and the patronage network of Doctor Ay (1947–1959); 3. Bluville: the patronage network of Korale-Mudaliyar Kit Foo and his son, Dee (1947–1959); 4. Bluville: the growth of the State (1956–1982); 5. Greenville: the patronage networks of the Mou/Nous and the Pou/Kous (1947–1959); 6. Greenville: the growth of the State (1956–1982); 7. Red Town: the urban setting (1947–1959); 8. Red Town: the growth of the State (1956–1982); 9. Communal minorities, political dissidents and the JVP; 10. Conclusion; Glossary of Sinhalese terms; References; Index.