Ideal vs Practice: Narratives on Clientelism, Democracy and Participation in Local Government Authorities in Sri Lanka

Abstract

This article expands our understanding of the notion of participatory democracy by presenting a case study of public participation in Local Government Authorities (LGA) in Sri Lanka. It analyses what participation means to local populations and how they engage in political decision-making to advance their socioeconomic conditions within and outside institutional architecture. It concludes that a
normative, self-advancing local community is non-existent in Sri Lanka and participation within the spaces available in LGAs is most effectively feltbythelocal communities, when it is supplemented by clientelist networks.