Re-Imagining Democracy in Sri Lanka
We at the BCIS began to conceptualize and plan this publication on the experience of democracy in our country at a time when the Sri Lankan people were on the verge of…
Political philosophy
Why Sri Lanka Has Descended into Chaos and the Way Forward Part 1
Sri Lanka is passing through a turbulent time in terms of its economy, society, governance, community cohesion, cultural spirit and ethos. After the political and social upheaval generated by the lack of…
State Formation and Contemporary Policy Issues in Sri Lanka
The starting point of the analysis in this article is to question the conventional approach to studying a state. The conventional approach treats the state as a concrete, self-contained entity that has…
Beyond May Day
The connection between May Day and labour rights began in the United States. During the 19th century, at the height of the industrial revolution, thousands of men, women and children were dying…
Stability Versus the Social Contract
Order and stability have been the key words defining the early days of the Wickremesinghe presidency. They are touted as being the mantra that will set Sri Lanka on the path to…
Bringing Democracy Back Through People’s Power
Sri Lanka’s politics is at the crossroads. One path opened before the people is that of re-democratisation. It comes after decades of de-democratisation carried out by different factions of the country’s political…
Some Observations on the Current Situation in Sri Lanka
I am currently living in the UK, which has its advantages and disadvantages. The advantage is one can keep a little distance from the dynamics of current events. This helps to get…
From Fantasy to Nightmare: The Myth of Absolute Power
After many years of being a politician in various capacities, J.R. Jayewardene had come to the conclusion that if he could rule all by himself without any restraints, he could do a…
Democracy: The Sri Lankan Way
The democratic ideal sounds simple enough. All citizens have a say in their system of governance, typically through elected representatives. The concept has been a part of Sri Lankan politics since as…
Sri Lanka: Rising Autocracy and Historical Experiences
S. P. Huntington has presciently warned that democratic transitions are vulnerable and reversible if ruling elites do not show genuine commitment to democratic values. He argues: “When they are out of power,…
The US Presidential Election of November, 2020 | Part 2
The looming presidential election of the first week of November, 2020 draws some resemblances to that which confronted John F. Kennedy in the build up to the November 1960 presidential election. Although…
The US Presidential Election of November, 2020 | Part 1
The US presidential election is due in November this year. For people in Sri Lanka, as in much of the globe, that would be among the most relevant political events of the…
The Past and the Present in the (Re)Constitution of the State
By Asanga Welikala and Roshan de Silva-Wijeyeratne The election of President Gotabaya Rajapaksa in November 2019 marked the beginning of a new era of a Sinhala-Buddhist nationalist ascendancy in Sri Lanka. The…
The Ethno-Economics of Majoritarianism: Notes on Conflict and Gotabaya’s Sri Lanka
Photo courtesy Tribune.lk In the aftermath of Gotabaya Rajapaksa’s election victory, a number of competing narratives have emerged offering differing explanations of how we arrived at this result. The prevailing liberal account,…
Questions of Freedom: Problems in Sri Lanka’s Constitution, Laws and Institutions
Citizens of Sri Lanka should heed this warning to the framers of the US constitution. The Sri Lankan Presidency was, until recently, a fixed executive, not dependent or answerable to parliament and…
