• Research
  • The Implications of the Changing Role of Governance in Sri Lanka
  • De-Centralization and Provincial Finance in Sri Lanka
  • Effective Local Governance: the Foundation for a Functioning Democracy in Sri Lanka
  • Public Accountability, Public Expenditure Management and Governance in Sri Lanka, 1948 - 1993
  • Enhancing the Effectiveness of Public Policy Management: The Challenges for Sri Lanka
  • Economic Reform and Governance: Second Wave of Liberalization in Sri Lanka– 1989 - 1993
  • Activating the Administrative Reform Process in Sri Lanka
• Research Staff
• Publications
  • IPS Publications
  • External Publications

Research

The Implications of the Changing Role of Governance in Sri Lanka

This publication is the outcome of the increasing realization that the changing role of governance is not adequately and appropriately appreciated in the decision-making levels of both the polity and the bureaucracy, as well as in the society at large and in the community of civil society organizations. The issues are discussed within the context of the changing polity, economy, and society, as well as in the world of technology. Current inadequacies in governance are first analyzed, and recommendations are made on the changes required not only in the polity and the administrative support system, but also in human resources. The discussion also highlights the important issue of managing the transition from the existing situation to the new.

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De-Centralization and Provincial Finance in Sri Lanka

Decentralization and fiscal devolution have become important issues in Sri Lanka, particularly in the context of the protracted ethnic conflict. The Provincial Council System, which arose from the Thirteenth Amendment to the Constitution, has several inherent weaknesses and deficiencies. This paper analyses the fiscal and financial issues pertaining to the provincial administrative system, including the relative insignificance and inadequacy of the revenue resources devolved to the provinces, the wide disparity between the different provincial administrations, the nature of provincial expenditure, and the weaknesses of the prevailing grants system on which the provincial councils depend for their existence and functioning. The paper also discusses the taxation and fiscal changes, including the concept of revenue sharing, envisaged in the Government’s proposals for constitutional reform, and analyses whether they would correct the existing problems of weak fiscal management and control.

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Effective Local Governance: the Foundation for a Functioning Democracy in Sri Lanka

The country’s citizenry at the level of their local communities remain divorced from the processes of governance. This has over the post-Independence decades contributed, in no small measure, to the absence of transparency and accountability in governance. The research advocates the institutionalizing of a relevant and effective local government structure as an imperative if Sri Lanka’s system of Governance is to evolve into a functioning democracy. The publication analyses the progressive centralization of the country’s governance, before it proceeds to delineate the history of local government in Sri Lanka, as well as the current scene. In setting out an agenda for the future, the discussion focuses on the role and functions of the future local government institutions: their structure, their powers and authority, their financial resources, and the changes necessary to the electoral system. The relations between the Centre and the Regional Level within a devolved polity are also discussed, as are issues of accountability. The proposed agenda also deals with how the common needs of the local government institutions are to be met.

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Public Accountability, Public Expenditure Management and Governance in Sri Lanka, 1948 - 1993

This publication focuses on the level of accountability that existed in public expenditure management in the first four and a half decades of the post-Independence period. The study examines the nature and level of accountability present in the formulation and approval of the State Budget, as well as in the expenditure of the budgeted resources. Special emphasis was placed on analysing the degree to which actual expenditure reflected the promises made at the stage of budget formulation. The study also focuses on the ineffectiveness of the “watchdogs” as they currently function, as well as seeks to explain the increasingly weakening levels of public accountability in the country over the post-Independence decades.

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Enhancing the Effectiveness of Public Policy Management: The Challenges for Sri Lanka

This publication analyses the future thrust of the three-fold role of governance in Sri Lanka—guidance, facilitation and regulation. It evaluates the past process of public policy management, and identifies the current gaps. The study identified the changes to a market-led economy and to a devolved polity, as well as the emergence of an increasingly assertive citizenry as determinants of future public policy management. The discussion also reviewed lessons of experience drawn from other countries and proceeded to set out the future requirements to effective public policy management in terms of a relevant institutional underpinning and appropriate human resources.

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Economic Reform and Governance: Second Wave of Liberalization in Sri Lanka– 1989 - 1993

This study focuses on the second wave of economic liberalization in Sri Lanka during the period 1989-93. It seeks to understand the manner in which the liberalization path was affected by initial conditions, internal and external shocks, and, to a very significant extent, the political economy. The study underscores how the nature of the country’s constitution affects the behaviour of key political actors (in this case, the Executive President), and how the frequency of elections tend to affect the decisions on development policies.

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Activating the Administrative Reform Process in Sri Lanka

This publication analyses the failure in implementing the major recommendations of the Presidential Committee on Administrative Reform of 1986-1987. It identifies the presence of anti-reform vested interests in the polity and the bureaucracy, and assesses the influence exercised by them in negating the reform agenda. It also discusses the changing milieu of governance in Sri Lanka, identifies the direction future reforms should take, and offers a road map for the successful implementation of the proposed reforms.

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Research Staff

Other Staff

Shelton Wanasinghe
BA (Ceylon), Hon. D.Litt (University of Sri Jayawardenapura)
Senior Visiting Fellow
E-mail: shelton@ips.lk

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Publications

IPS Publications

Governance Series

External Publications

• Wanasinghe, Shelton (2002), “Governance and the Economy”, Economic Review, Vol. 28, No.1.

• Wanasinghe, Shelton (2002), “Building Local Capacities for Conflict Management: The Potential of Local Governance in Sri Lanka” in M. Mayer, U. Thangarajah and D. Rajasingham Senanayake (eds.), Building Local Capacities for Peace, Macmillan India.

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