Government Interference, Trust, and the Capacity to perform: Comparing Governance Institutions in Thailand

Abstract

In this article governance institutions are compared in terms of government interference, trust in governance institutions, and the capacity of governance institutions to perform. A questionnaire was administered to find out the perception of an expert group consisting of MPA students from Chulalongkorn University. The author’s understanding about recent development of Thai politics and administration was combined into the analysis. The findings indicate that there is a high positive association between trust in governance institutions and the performance capacity of governance institutions. However, trust in governance institutions was negatively associated with government interference in governance institutions. As of this writing Thailand was experiencing a period in which citizen trust in the national government was very low. In mid-April, 2010 the Thai Election Commission ordered the ruling party to be dissolved for allegedly concealing campaign contributions. Anti-government protesters had pressed for Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva's resignation for months. His coalition government was further weakened as senior military officials and leaders of other coalition parties demanded a call for elections for a new government within a short period of time.