First published in 1984, Sri Lanka: In Change and Crisis focuses on two major political events in Sri Lankan history- the presidential elections/referendum of 1982 and the communal riots of 1983. James Manor’s introduction attempts to place these events within an evolutionary analysis of Sri Lankan political history since independence. The aim of this collection is not to achieve unanimity but to approach the events in Sri Lanka from a diversity of viewpoints.
The book discusses themes like plebiscitary democracy or creeping authoritarianism; the New Gaullist-Bonapartist State in Sri Lanka; electoral system change in Sri Lanka; the origins and institutionalization of political violence; popular perceptions of violence; the riots and the Roman Catholic Church in Sri Lanka; and Tamils in the aftermath of the violence. This is an important historical reference work for the students of political science, South Asian politics and South Asian history.