Electoral Allegiance in Sri Lanka [Paperback]

A detailed comparative analysis of electorates in Sri Lanka.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.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.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.Acknowledgments; List of abbreviations; 1. Introduction; 2. Bluville: the constituency and the patronage network of Doctor Ay (19471959); 3. Bluville: the patronage network of Korale-Mudaliyar Kit Foo and his son, Dee (19471959); 4. Bluville: the growth of the State (19561982); 5. Greenville: the patronage networks of the Mou/Nous and the Pou/Kous (19471959); 6. Greenville: the growth of the State (19561982); 7. Red Town: the urban setting (19471959); 8. Red Town: the growth of the State (19561982); 9. Communal minorities, political dissidents and the JVP; 10. Conclusion; Glossary of Sinhalese terms; References; Index.