Sri Lanka’s ongoing economic crisis has led to mass protests demanding the president’s resignation and will likely end the Rajapaksa political dynasty. But the sociopolitical and economic transformations that protestors clamor for cannot happen unless the country moves away from its extant embedded ethnocracy.
About the Author
Neil DeVotta is professor of politics and international affairs at Wake Forest University and the author of From Ethnocracy to Kakistocracy: Sri Lanka’s Pathway to Ruin (forthcoming).
The return to power, via elections, of the Rajapaksa family signals the consolidation of a Sinhalese Buddhist ethnocracy. But there are reasons to hope it will not take a turn…
Irresponsible leadership and ill-designed institutions have made this island republic prey to a bitter and violent ethnic conflict that is threatening to undermine democracy itself.
What factors help a democracy to survive a crisis? A study of cases in which democracy suffered a steep decline, yet ultimately recovered and endured, offers new insights. In moments of crisis,…
