Figure 11. The Structure of Government, 1987

Sri Lanka has benefited from the traditions of the rule of law and constitutional government that emerged during 150 years of British colonial rule. At least until the early 1970s, these traditions fostered the development of a political system characterized by broad popular participation in the political process, generally strict observance of legal guarantees of human and civil rights, and an orderly succession of elected governments without the intervention, as has occurred in several neighboring states, of the military. By the early 1980s, however, many observers feared for the future of Sri Lanka's democratic institutions. Some observers contended that constitutional government, rather than curbing the arbitrary use of political power, seemed itself to be shaped by aggressively narrow sectarian interests whose manipulation of the constitutional amendment process excluded large numbers of persons from politics and contributed to ethnic polarization and violence.

Data as of October 1988

NOTE: The information regarding Sri Lanka on this page is re-published from The Library of Congress Country Studies and the CIA World Factbook. No claims are made regarding the accuracy of Sri Lanka THE 1978 CONSTITUTION AND GOVERNMENT INSTITUTIONS information contained here. All suggestions for corrections of any errors about Sri Lanka THE 1978 CONSTITUTION AND GOVERNMENT INSTITUTIONS should be addressed to the Library of Congress and the CIA.