Institutional trust paradox: understanding the dynamics of trust among different ethnic groups in Sri Lanka

ABSTRACT

The article explores institutional trust dynamics in Sri Lanka and asks what accounts for varying levels of trust different ethnic groups have in governance institutions in the post-war context. Three decades of ethnic conflict, the emergence of ethno-religious polarisation since the end of civil war, militarised ethnocracy, and the majoritarian ethnocratic state all highlight the need to understand these dynamics. The article presents the results of twonationally representative surveys on institutional trust in Sri Lanka (2015 & 2020), which showed a puzzling trend: in 2015, minorities had higher trust in public institutions, whereas, in 2020, the same minorities had lower trust. The study finds that citizens’ evaluation of public institutions is affected by ethnic cleavages, institutional fairness, and perceived performance. On the one hand, Sinhala–Buddhist ideology and dominance of ethnic majority in public institutions are more likely to determine institutional trust among the ethnic majority Sinhalese; on the other, perceived injustice and unfair treatment shapes institutional trust among the ethnic minorities. Overall, the study finds that an increase in institutional performance may not be sufficient; institutionalising equal treatment, fairness, and enhancing governance quality are necessary to enhance institutional trust among all ethnic groups in ethnically polarized societies.

KEYWORDS:

• Institutional trust
• ethnic majority
• minority
• public institutions
• Sri Lanka

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Notes

1 It was a Tamil militant group that fought to secure an independent state for Sri Lankan Tamils in the north and east part of the country in response to the state policies of successive Sri Lankan governments that were widely considered to be discriminatory towards the minority Sri Lankan Tamils and oppressive actions.

2 The University of Bergen, Norway, the University of Peradeniya, Sri Lanka, the Tribhuvan University, Nepal, and North South University, Bangladesh.

3 After the end of the civil war, a notion was effectively instilled among the ethnic majority to portray Mahinda Rajapaksa as a ‘war hero’ and Asia’s strong man. In the wake of the eighteenth amendment promulgated in September 2010, public bodies, including the police, had been fully politicised. The independence of the judiciary was crippled by the January 2013 impeachment of chief justice Shirani Bandaranayake. President’s impunity for crime by the politically connected remains endemic and intimidation on CSOs and media that critical of government considerably increased– due to military’s autonomy and expansion in civilian life, Sri Lanka became a national security state.

Additional information

Funding

The authors received no financial support for the research and publication of this article.

Notes on contributors

Ramesh Ramasamy

Ramesh Ramasamy is a senior lecturer in Political Science at the University of Peradeniya, Sri Lanka. He obtained his Ph.D. under the NORHED project on Governance and Policy Studies in South Asia. His research interests are mainly on quality of government, corruption, institutional trust, public service delivery and citizenship rights. His recent publications include “Quality of Government, Citizenship Rights and Access to Public Services: Evidence from Sri Lanka (Palgrave Macmillan, 2021); Youth radicalization and violent extremism: a study of pathways in the post-war context of Sri Lanka (Journal of Youth Studies, 2022) and Corruption–Poverty Nexus: Evidence from Panel ARDL Approach for SAARC Countries (Asian Journal of Comparative Politics, 2022). Ramesh Ramasamy can be contacted at: [email protected].

Hasan Muhammad Baniamin

Hasan Muhammad Baniamin, is an Assistant Professor at the Department of Political Science and Sociology, and at the South Asian Institute of Policy and Governance (SIPG), North South University, Bangladesh. He obtained PhD from the Department of Administration and Organization Theory, University of Bergen, Norway. His research interests include e-governance, health policy, behavioral public administration, institutional performance, and trust, and he has published articles on these issues in journals such as Public Administration, Public Organisation Review, International Political Science Review, and International Journal of Public Administration.