Responsiveness Challenges Encountered by Local Chief Administrators Who Were Acting in Place of Local Chief Executives after the 2014 Coup

Abstract

The objective of this research on “Responsiveness Challenges Encountered by Local Chief Administrators Who Were Acting in Place of Local Chief Executives after the 2014 Coup” is to examine the problems and obstacles which act as a substitute practiced between chief administrators and local chief executives in provincial administrative organizations for the requirement of peoples and local solution methods during the period with no local government elections after the 2014 coup. The researchers employed a multi-case study research methodology by analyzing documents related to the performance of the local chief administrators during the vacancy period. The researchers also conducted interviews with a total of 24 key informants who were local officials in the executive, legislative and administrative branches as well as the citizenry from four LAOs in Chaiyaphum Province. Content and thematic analyses were employed. The results showed that local chief administrators who were acting in place of local chief executives, were unable to perform their tasks equivalent to the local chief executives due to the four major causes or limitations of increased workload, legal restrictions, lack of understanding of the local communities, and more responses to centralized policies than to citizens’ needs. These findings suggest that local chief administrators do not originate from and represent the local people, and there is no accountability and responsiveness to the needs of the local people compared to the response to the central and regional bureaucratic systems. Its challenge for chief administrator of the local administration to be practiced during the period no election. Therefore, during the vacancy period, local chief administrators should visit the public areas for close inspections. In the long run, the government should restore power to the LAOs by holding elections in order to ensure representatives of the people manage the local government so the citizens can benefit from the decentralized democracy.