Category Archives: economic processes

Prema-chandra Athukorala & Sisira Jayasuriya, ……Forthcoming in Asian Economic Papers, 14(3), 2015 … and also available elsewhere.

Abstract: This paper examines causes and implications of Sri Lanka’s political regime shift in February 2015, which has been widely hailed a victory for democracy, against the backdrop of the country’s political and economic development in the post-independence era. The regime shift vividly demonstrates that voters, given the chance, turn against leaders they perceive to be corrupt, nepotistic or needlessly divisive, even if they deliver handsome growth figures; there are limits to gaining political legitimacy in a multi-ethnic state simply by creating cleavages between majority and minority communities. For the first time, the minority communities in Sri Lanka appear to have felt themselves part of, and potentially an important influence on, the national political scene. It is, however, difficult at this stage to predict whether the regime change would usher in an era of ethnic harmony and robust economic growth. One hope is that war-weariness and discontents with the previous regime seem to have led to a greater willingness to accommodate diverse perspectives and demands within the political system.

1. Introduction

Sri Lanka is one of the most heavily researched of the developing countries. It has repeatedly gained attention among scholars as a laboratory for studying issues central to the debates on socio-political and economic transformation in countries that gained independence from colonialism. In the 1960s and 1970s Sri Lanka attracted attention as an illustrative case in the debate on the growth-equity trade-off and the untoward consequences of prolonged adherence to a state-led import substitution development strategy. From the late 1970s it became an important case study for the analysis of the impact of economic liberalization and structural adjustment. Following the eruption of the ethnic conflict in the early 1980s there was a new focus on Sri Lanka as a test case for studying various facets of the interplay of government policies and social harmony in a multi-ethnic nation. It provided a fertile ground for studies of the art of unconventional warfare, of internationalized conflict resolution and peace-making in protracted ethnic conflicts, and finally for studies of how military means can be effectively used to defeat armed separatist movements. With the stunning change in the political regime at the presidential election held on 8 January 2015, Sri Lanka now provides the international research community with an opportunity to undertake illustrative case studies of a range of issues relating to political transitions and regime change, post-conflict economic management and governance in a multi-ethnic country. Continue reading →