Factors influencing the peoples participation in the administration of local administrative organizations in the provinces surrounding Bangkok metropolis
Abstract:
The objectives of this research were to 1) study the peoples participation in the administration of Local Administrative Organizations in the provinces surrounding Bangkok Metropolis, 2) study the factors influencing the peoples participation in the administration of Local Administrative Organizations in the provinces surrounding Bangkok Metropolis, and 3) propose suggestions for increasing the peoples participation in the administration of Local Administrative Organizations. A mixed methods research was employed in this research. The quantitative research was conducted by collecting data from 400 respondents who were community leaders in 5 provinces consisting of Nakhonpathom, Nonthaburi, Pathumthani, Samutprakan, and Samutsakhon. The sample size was derived by calculations using Taro Yamanes formula and the stratified random sampling technique. The instrument for data collection was a 5-level Likert Scale questionnaire, with a reliability of 0.78, and the statistics used to analyze the data consisted of mean, standard deviation, and stepwise multiple regression analysis. The qualitative research was conducted doing document research, interviews with 17 key informants consisting of three Chief Executives, one Deputy Chief Executive, two Chief Administrators, one Deputy Chief Administrator, nine Division Directors and one Subdivision Chief, all working in Local Administrative Organizations, and 3 focus-groups. The first group consisted of 7 municipal mayors, the second group consisted of 8 Chief Executives of Sub-district Administrative Organizations, and the third group consisted of 10 communities leaders and Officers of Local Administrative Organizations who were in charge of the peoples participation. All of them were selected using the purposive random sampling technique. The data were analyzed by content analysis and interpretations. The research findings were as follows: 1. The peoples participation in the administration of Local Administrative Organizations in the surrounding provinces of Bangkok metropolis was, overall, at a moderate level ( = 3.20, S.D = 0.96). When considered and compared individually, the aspect of benefits of participation was at the highest ( = 3.37, S.D = 0.94), followed by the forms of participation ( = 3.25, S.D = 0.96), the processes of participation ( = 3.12, S.D = 1.04), and the frequency of participation ( = 3.06, S.D = 1.08). The reasons behind this low score were threefold: there was a lack of promotion for people participation by various sectors, the people lacked the desire to influence Local Administrative Organizations, and there was a lack of conflict management capability. 2. Three factors affecting the peoples participation were identified: (1) cultural factors, with three variables, namely the peoples desire to influence Local Administrative Organizations (β = 0.210), the peoples confidence in their influence (β = 0.100), and the peoples personal orientation (β = -0.062), (2) environmental factors, with 2 variables: the promotion of participation by other sectors (β = 0.263), and the peoples awareness of information (β = 0.117), (3) administrative factors, with 3 variables: democratic leadership of the Local Administrative Organizations executives (β = 0.108), change management capability (β = 0.143), and conflict management capability (β = 0.107). These three factors could explain 69.99 % of the variation of the peoples participation (R2 = 0.6999). In addition, the qualitative study revealed that there were some variables influencing peoples participation, including (1) peoples commitment to their locality, (2) individuality, (3) communication with the people, (4) role of the Local Administrative Organizations toward their people, (5) peoples time to participate, (6) locals developmental status, and (7) the number of citizens. 3. The suggestions for encouraging the peoples participation are as follows (1) increase the frequency of the peoples participation by giving other sectors more chances to take a role in making the people realize their own roles in self-governing at the local level, (2) motivate the people to participate by informing them about the benefits of participation, (3) increase the peoples access to the information in their locality by using more appropriate information technologies, (4) simplify the operating procedures of the Local Administrative Organizations by learning from the best practices of public and private organizations, (5) promote the peoples confidence in their potential by encouraging the Local Administrative Organizations to react to the peoples opinions in concrete ways, and at the same time, (6) support the peoples awareness of their influence on Local Administrations by organizing events, promulgating these issues, and praising people who continually contributed to public interests.