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This chapter analyzes Sri Lanka’s transition to independence and the early roots of ethnic conflict, highlighting the paradox of democratic development in the ethnically divided society. Despite the absence of a mass-based independence movement, Sri Lanka (then Ceylon) smoothly moved to parliamentary democracy through constitutional reforms shaped by negotiations between British authorities and moderate Sinhalese elites. However, the beginning of mass-based electoral politics and abolition of communal representation under universal suffrage, especially under the 1931 Donoughmore Constitution, inadvertently empowered Sinhalese majoritarian politics. As electoral competition intensified after independence in 1948, Sinhala nationalist parties gained ground, sidelining Tamil parties. The disenfranchisement of Indian Tamils further deepened communal divides. Although the first United National Party-led government maintained some ethnic balance, the massive electoral victory of the Sinhala nationalist Sri Lanka Freedom Party in 1956 laid the foundation for the “Sinhala Only” policy and eventual civil war. The chapter concludes that democratic institutions, without safeguards for minorities, facilitated majoritarian dominance and ethnic polarization.

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Sri Lanka: Constitutional Reforms and the Establishment of Democracy Under British Colonial Rule

  • 章节

  • 发表日期：

    2025年

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  • Norio Kondo

摘要

This chapter analyzes Sri Lanka’s transition to independence and the early roots of ethnic conflict, highlighting the paradox of democratic development in the ethnically divided society. Despite the absence of a mass-based independence movement, Sri Lanka (then Ceylon) smoothly moved to parliamentary democracy through constitutional reforms shaped by negotiations between British authorities and moderate Sinhalese elites. However, the beginning of mass-based electoral politics and abolition of communal representation under universal suffrage, especially under the 1931 Donoughmore Constitution, inadvertently empowered Sinhalese majoritarian politics. As electoral competition intensified after independence in 1948, Sinhala nationalist parties gained ground, sidelining Tamil parties. The disenfranchisement of Indian Tamils further deepened communal divides. Although the first United National Party-led government maintained some ethnic balance, the massive electoral victory of the Sinhala nationalist Sri Lanka Freedom Party in 1956 laid the foundation for the “Sinhala Only” policy and eventual civil war. The chapter concludes that democratic institutions, without safeguards for minorities, facilitated majoritarian dominance and ethnic polarization.