Event time:
Tuesday, February 3, 2026 - 12:00pm
Location:
Luce Hall, Room 202
34 Hillhouse Avenue
New Haven, CT
06520
Event description:
The Comparative Politics Workshop presents
Professor Dan Slater, University of Michigan:
“Mischief of the Franchise: The Grant of Universal Suffrage in British Ceylon (Sri Lanka), 1927–28.”
What prompted a white ruling elite to grant universal suffrage to a population of color for the very first time in modern history? This presentation examines the surprising decision by the colonial Donoughmore Commission to extend the franchise in British Ceylon (present-day Sri Lanka) in 1927–28, offering a novel account of why and how suffrage expansion can unfold in the absence of either elite or popular pressure to expand voting rights.
Admission:
Free
Open to:
General Public