| Abstract: | Till recently, Sri Lanka was distinctive amongst the less developed countries for having a parliamentary democracy based on regular and fair competitive elections. The present article analyses the long-term impact that the plurality system of elections had on the consolidation of political alignments and cleavages in Sri Lanka in its post-independence period. The study finds that the very success of the plurality system in encouraging popular participation, bi-polar competition, political cohesion and stability contributed to engendering their unacceptable extremes in Sri Lanka's resource-scarce context. In the longer run, the increasing radicalization of the electorate, acute party competition for control of the state, ethnic sectarianism, and absolute parliamentary majorities served to undermine the democratic aspects of the system. |
