The Analysis of the Patterns, Methods and Effects of Elections Under the Constitution of the Kingdom of Thailand B.E. 2560 and the Organic Act on the Election of Members of the House of Representatives and the Organic Act on Political Parties

Abstract

              This research paper has objectives to: 1) analyze the patterns, election methods under the Constitution of the Kingdom of Thailand B.E. 2560 together with the Organic Act on the Election of Members of the House of Representatives and the Organic Act on Political Party, 2) study the effect of the election under the said Constitution and the Organic Acts, and 3) propose improvement guidelines for the election that is most appropriate to Thai society. This is a qualitative research in which there are documentary study and in-depth interviews with 18 key-informants who are scholars, qualified persons, legal specialists, top-ranking officials, senators, and members of the parliament. The results prevailed that 1) the Constitution of the Kingdom of Thailand B.E. 2560, becoming effective on April 6, 2560, has set the clear criteria on the entry into political power of members of the parliament upon the new system known as Mixed-Member Proportional System or MMP as seen in the German system by which the Constitution Drafting Committee used as a basis in system implementation of the election, 2) the majoritarian system has an effect of large political parties to gain more competitive advantage over the general election. However, when the MMP system was being introduced, the big political parties enjoyed a less proportionate number of members of the parliament especially from the party-list category while the medium size of political parties has been able to gain additional seats under the MMP system. The new election system was believed to produce a significant effect on the formation of coalition government, and 3) the improvement guidelines for the election that is appropriate to the Thai society should make every vote truly meaningful under the MMP system that should draw more people to exercise their voting rights.