POLITICAL LEADERSHIP ACCORDING TO BUDDHISM OF LOCAL POLITICIANS AT HUAYRANG SUB-DISTRICT IN MUANG DISTRICT OF TRAT PROVINCE

Abstract

Objectives of this research article were: 1. To study local politicians' political leadership level, 2. To study the relationship between the principles of Sappurisadhamma and the political leadership of local politicians. 3. To study the guidelines for developing political leadership based on the Buddhism of local politicians, conducted by the mixed research methods. The quantitative research data were collected from 380 samples, using Taro Yamane formula, derived from a population of 7,471 people. The research tools used were questionnaires. The data analysis statistics were frequency, percentage, mean, and standard deviation.  The qualitative research, data were collected by in-depth interviewing 10 key informants, consisted of Buddhism experts, local politicians, political science scholars, local administrative organization administrators, local leaders and community leaders and data analysis by descriptive interpretation.

The research findings were as follows: 1. The political leadership based on Buddhism of local politicians, by overall, was at a high level.  2. The relationship between the principles of Sappurisadhamma and local politicians' political leadership based on Buddhism were positively correlated at a high level, with statistically significant level of 0.01. Therefore, the hypothesis was accepted. 3. The guidelines for developing political leadership based on Buddhism of local politicians were, by overall, at a high level. Local politicians should be responsible and work as a team to build trust and confidence and create a bond with the community for creating connections and cooperation, developing knowledge, dividing work and delegating authority were essential factors in local administration.