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Testing the Politics of Presence: Women’s Representation in Local Government in Sri Lanka

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Women in Governing Institutions in South Asia

Abstract

This chapter explores the reasons underlying the low representation of women in local government in Sri Lanka. It also analyzes the results of the last (2011) local elections, focusing specially on the strategies adopted by winning and non-winning male and female candidates. This study shows that women have not been recognized as equal to men in the political arena and especially as candidates. They face more difficulties than men do to win the local elections. Some strategies used to win the elections by women are different from that of men, mainly due to women’s individual, cultural and structural/institutional differences. When compared to men, it is obvious that the factors which help to win the elections for both men and women are quite similar, but due to the socio-cultural and individual factors and lack of opportunities the men are at an advantage.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. University of Peradeniya, Peradeniya, Sri Lanka

    Kamala Liyanage

Authors
  1. Kamala Liyanage
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Correspondence to Kamala Liyanage .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. University of Chittagong, Chittagong, Bangladesh

    Nizam Ahmed

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Liyanage, K. (2018). Testing the Politics of Presence: Women’s Representation in Local Government in Sri Lanka. In: Ahmed, N. (eds) Women in Governing Institutions in South Asia. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-57475-2_17

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