This is the first detailed comparative analysis of electorates in Sri Lanka since 1947. Dilesh Jayanntha examines electoral allegiance in three contrasting constituencies--Sandville, Mirville and Jung Town--and demonstrates how patronage networks based initially on wealth and later on access to and control of state institutions determined electoral allegiance. Often the patronage network was congruent with caste. But, as Jayanntha shows, where the patron-client tie cut across the caste tie it was the former which proved decisive in deciding electoral allegiance.