Sri Lanka’s 1956 election introduced ethnic outbidding as a political tactic

Evidence

The influence of the political bhikkhus and the power of Sinhalese Buddhist nationalism did not become evident until the revolutionary 1956 election. It was the first election won by a group opposing the United National Party (UNP); the first election that saw a coalition of forces (the so-called Pancha Maha Balavegaya, or Five Great Forces, comprised of teachers, Buddhist monks, farmers, laborers, and ayurveda physicians) rally as Sinhalese Buddhists to induce political change; and the first election in which political parties resorted to ethnic outbidding, an insidious practice whereby parties representing the majority community try to outdo each other to provide the best deal for their ethnic kin, usually at the expense of minorities (DeVotta 2004b). — Neil DeVotta, Sinhalese Buddhist Nationalist Ideology, 121

Categorization

• DEFINE: Defines ‘ethnic outbidding’ — a useful concept for the manufactured-enmity research as a mechanism leaders deploy to consolidate in-group support.
• XREF: Ethnic outbidding is the concrete mechanism by which manufactured enmity gets institutionalized, directly serving the reader’s causal interest. — connects to: Ethnically divisive policies undermined Sri Lanka’s liberal democratic promise — Neil DeVotta, Sinhalese Buddhist Nationalist…, 614; Electoral majoritarianism in 1956 gave rise to anti-Tamil violence and empowered extremists.; Ethnic outbidding by Sinhalese parties drove ethnic polarization. (+4 more)

Broader Connections

• Ethnic outbidding by Sinhalese parties drove ethnic polarization. #expands (0.90)
• Electoral majoritarianism in 1956 gave rise to anti-Tamil violence and empowered extremists. #expands (0.85)
• Ethnic outbidding can be modulated and coexist with party modernization #qualifies (0.80) — Cathy Gormley-Heenan and Roger Macginty, Ethnic Outbidding and Party…, 22
• Ethnically divisive policies undermined Sri Lanka’s liberal democratic promise #expands (0.75) — Neil DeVotta, Sinhalese Buddhist Nationalist Ideology, 614
• A leftist party adopted anti-Tamil nationalism opportunistically when politically expedient #exemplifies (0.75) — Neil DeVotta, Sinhalese Buddhist Nationalist Ideology, 159
• Post-1956 Sri Lankan extremists sustained each other by feeding off reciprocal escalation #expands (0.70) — Neil DeVotta, Sinhalese Buddhist Nationalist Ideology, 133
• Sinhalese governments invented Tamil separateness for political self-preservation #corroborates (0.70) — Neil DeVotta, Sinhalese Buddhist Nationalist Ideology, 228