BUDDHIST INTEGRATION FOR PROMOTING POLITICAL LEADERSHIP OF MEMBERS OF THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES IN NAKHON SAWAN PROVINCE

Abstract

Objectives of this research article were: 1. To study on the political leadership of members of the House of Representatives in Nakhon Sawan province. 2. To study the factors affecting the political leadership of members of the House of Representatives in Nakhon Sawan Province and 3. To present the Buddhist Integration for promoting the political leadership of members of the House of Representatives in Nakhon Sawan Province, conducted by the mixed research methods. The qualitative research involved in-depth interviews with 18 key informants selected through purposely selection and a focus group discussion with 9 participants to validate the findings. For the quantitative part, data were collected through questionnaires distributed to a sample of 400 eligible voters, derived from a population of 838,896 using Taro Yamane’s formula. Descriptive content analysis and data analysis were performed by finding frequency, percentage, mean, standard deviation, and stepwise multiple regression analysis.

The research findings revealed that: 1. The political leadership of Members of Parliament in Nakhon Sawan was evident in several dimensions, including earned influence through real work, clear vision, decisiveness, rational listening, respect for diversity, and the ability to inspire the public, 2. The most significant factor influencing political leadership was political socialization, statistically significant at the 0.01 level. Religious organizations had the highest influence, followed by the media, occupational groups, educational institutions, peer groups, and family. Additionally, the Dutiya-papaññikadhamma was also statistically significant at the 0.01 level, with Nissayasampanno, strong interpersonal relations, having the greatest impact, followed by Cakkhuma, visionary, and Vidhuro ,skillful and knowledgeable and 3. Buddhist integration played a vital role in fostering leadership across all dimensions vision, management skills, and network-building with humility resulting in legitimate and publicly recognized leadership.