ABSTRACT
Sri Lanka provides support for the most common hypothesis associated with civilian and democratic rule, namely a high literacy rate. The hypothesis which links civilian rule to a sizeable middle class needs modification in the Sri Lankan case. The preferred control model in Sri Lanka has provided support, however, for yet another hypothesis that stresses the importance of military participation in national security policy-making. It is difficult for a military to take over a government which enjoys popular support and is exercising its powers effectively. On the one hand, substantial evidence supports both hypotheses in Sri Lanka. On the other hand, the government and political institutions have exacerbated tensions and generated conflict in their operation and policies. A critical concern is whether peace might present a problem for civil-military relations. Sri Lanka gained independence peacefully as a consequence of India’s struggle, when its own nationalist movement was the parliamentary mode of protest.
