An Integration of Buddha Dhamma Principles for Supporting Participation Process in Formulating Public Policies of Local Administrative Organizations

Abstract

This dissertation was entitled “An Integration of Buddha Dhamma Principles for Supporting Participation Process in Formulating Public Policies of Local Administrative Organizations.” The main objectives were 1) to study the public policy process through the participation of citizens in public policy of the local administrative organizations, 2) to analyze the participation of citizens in formulating the public policy of the local administrative organizations, and 3) to present the model of Buddha Dhamma integration in supporting the public policy process in formulating the public policy of the local administrative organizations.  

            The research methodologies used in this research were the mixed methods which were the qualitative method and quantitative method. For the qualitative method, the researcher conducted the in-depth interview with 26 key informants. The technique used was Content Analysis. For the quantitative research, 399 samplings were randomly selected to answer a set of questionnaires. Those respondents were government officials and people, who were eligible to vote and living in Lamphun Province. Statistics used were Frequency, Percentage, Mean and Standard Deviation.

            The Findings were as follow:

1. Upon the people’s participation in formulating the public policy of the local administrative organizations, the researcher found that there were 8 processes which were: 1) the planning to survey the people’s needs which was under the planning level of the local administrative organizations. 2) The co-operation with the local Buddhist organizations, the association of the sub-district chiefs and village heads. 3) The creation of mechanism to support the people’s participation in formulating the public policy in Lamphun Province. 4) Raising awareness among the general public about the public policy process starting from the policy problems; the policy formulation; the decision-making on policies or analysis on alternatives; the practice on policies; and the policy evaluation. 5) brain-storming through public hearing at village level upon the operation planning of the local administrative organizations. 6) Bringing the people’s opinion to write in the master plan of the public policy framework and prioritizing the policies. 7) Conducting the referendum on the public policy. 8) Monitoring and evaluating the public policy operation to reassure the efficiency of the public policy.
2. Upon the analysis of the people’s participation in formulating the public policy of the local administrative organization, the researcher found 6 groups of problems related to the this, which were: the participation by the general public, the communication, the structural problem, the process of the public participation, the local politics, and the management.

          3. Upon the integration of Buddha Dhamma to supporting the people’s participation in formulating the public policy of the local administrative organizations, the researcher found that there were many activities to achieve this goal. Those were: the public relations; the public hearing; the village-level meeting; and the frequency of the meeting. These activities will help the local organizations understand the need of the people. The local organization officials also need to sacrifice the personal gain for the public benefits. There’s a need to cooperate the works between Buddhist organizations in the province and the local administrative organizations. The people’s participation in formulating the public policy of the local organization shall be conducted through various activities which are:  the creation of public policy; the cooperation on policy; the policy practice; the physical work for policy; the financial support for policy; the equal sharing on benefits from the policy; the monitoring on policy practice; and the shared ownership of the policy. Such sharing spirit on the public policy is in line with Lamphun Province’s belief and this research model is called “Withi Kruba Model”