POLITICAL PARTICIPATION BY THE STUDENT DEMOCRACY MAHAMAKUT BUDDHIST UNIVERSITY SRITHAMMASOKKARAJ CAMPUS

Abstract

        The purposes of this study were to 1) study the level of political participation under democracy system of students from Mahamakut Buddhist University (MBU), Srithammasokkaraj Campus, 2) compare the political participation under democracy system of MBU students from Srithammasokkaraj Campus with the different independent variables, and 3) present the recommendations regarding the participation under democracy system of MBU students from Srithammasokkaraj Campus. The population included 174 MBU undergraduate students from the Srithammasokkaraj Campus. The sample size was determined using the formula of Taro Yamane to finally get 121 students as the sample group. The research tools used for data collection were closed-ended and open-ended questions. The data were analyzed using a packaged program.

The results of the study were as follows:

1. Overall, students’ political participation in democracy was high (4.07). When considering each aspect, the perception, joining in thinking, and making political decisions had the highest average (4.26), followed by the recognition of political information (4.05). Behavior of political participation had the lowest average (3.90).


2. The comparison of the political participation of MBU students from the Srithammasokkaraj campus under the democracy with the different independent variables revealed that different genders affected no difference with a statistical significance at the .05 level. In contrast, in terms of different ages, occupations, classes, and birthplaces, there was a difference in the statistical significance at .001.


3. Suggestion: More campaign activities should be organized to educate students about politics, such as allowing them to observe polling stations and participate in parades to promote exercising their right to vote.