• Mahim Mendis

Abstract This paper provides an assessment of political burdens confronting Sri Lanka as a post-colonial state that faced several anti-systemic and violent militant struggles since independence from the British in 1948. This is a country with a prolonged transition from its traditional moral order rooted in autocracy, to one that is governed by democratic benchmarks. Such benchmarks are rooted in fundamental freedoms enshrined in the Universal Declaration of human rights (UDHR). They often come into conflict with the ethos of Sinhala Buddhist sectarian politics that evoke supremacy feelings in the majority over the rest of the population. Preservation of this status was a priority for constitution makers in 1970, 1977, and to the present day. The preoccupation of politicians had been to protect majority power at whatever cost, consciously re-engineering the political processes for their partisan gain. Furthermore, there had been a systematic erosion of credible standards of profes¬sionalism in governance, often making the political regimes interpret concepts of democracy according to their whims and fancies. Contextually, this paper portrays the constraints faced by Sri Lankan people in sustaining functional democracy in the absence of a democratically inspired socialization process at micro and at macro organizational levels.

Good Governance, Democracy, Post-colonial state, Executive Presidency, Political culture, Ethno-religious Politics, Institutional accountability, Post-war governance, Professionalism in Politics

"GOOD GOVERNANCE IN A BURDENED DEMOCRACY: THE CASE OF POST WAR SRI LANKA ", International Journal of Emerging Technologies and Innovative Research (www.jetir.org), ISSN:2349-5162, Vol.12, Issue 10, page no.b728-b740, October-2025, Available :http://www.jetir.org/papers/JETIR2510188.pdf

"GOOD GOVERNANCE IN A BURDENED DEMOCRACY: THE CASE OF POST WAR SRI LANKA ", International Journal of Emerging Technologies and Innovative Research (www.jetir.org | UGC and issn Approved), ISSN:2349-5162, Vol.12, Issue 10, page no. ppb728-b740, October-2025, Available at : http://www.jetir.org/papers/JETIR2510188.pdf