Thailand’s Members of Parliament and the Concept of Representativeness at the National Level

Abstract

     This article aims to study the role of members of parliament within the framework of State Orientation Theory. The article focuses on the role perception plays in MP’s , considered in relation to IPU indicators: (1) their background, including years of political experience; (2) the size of their political party and their status in the parliament; (3) the expectations of the people who voted for them, as, factors for analyzing their behavior
and actual performance in undertaking their duties as the members of the parliament. The author has developed the IPU’s ideas based on the version King Prajadhipok’s Institute suggested as a benchmark.

     The article suggests that the background of the MP’s is significant in how they perform their duties in the national assembly because this factor directly affects their perception, to the extent that it controls their mindset towards their actions.

     The article will also suggest the ways in which the members of parliament should improve their performance based on their attitude and perception of the wider electoral mandate in order to perform their duty as MP’s, not only as a member of a political party.