THE LOCAL CONSTITUTION: THE TOOL OF COMMUNITY DEMOCRACY DEVELOPMENT; CASE STUDIES OF PHITSANULOK PROVINCE

Abstract

The article studies the 13 communities in Phitsanulok province from the formation of local constitution to local constitution drafting. The research aims to study the local constitution development with the capacity of each community. In addition, the research also focuses on the factors that contributes to the local onstitution in communities. The research method applied the participatory action research. It found that the formation of local constitution occurred from the cooperation and participation of the local leaders, community leaders, the leaders of civil society and communities. Another factor is the awareness in communities’ problems. Meanwhile, the major characteristic of local constitution came from the issues and demands of people in communities especially health, economic, environment and social issues. Also, the contents of local constitution should be in accordance with the operational approaches of local administrative.