Constitutional Policy-Making by the Thai Elite: Designing the Election System for House and Senate in the 2007 Constitution

Abstract

Since 1932, Thailand.s constitution has been contested. They were often abolished by military coup, newly written or amended. The latest case in this process is the 18th constitution of 2007. It was created by an elite group of academics and bureaucrats, who were appointed in the wake of the military coup of September 2006. This paper approaches the writing of the constitution as an example of policy-making, thus following the usual model of policy cycle. After briefly characterizing the Thai constitution-making process, as elite oriented and incremental, and after providing some political background, the paper outlines the processes of policy identification, agenda setting, and policy formulation. Regarding the latter, the paper concentrates on the redesign of the election system for the House and the Senate.