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Thai Political Families: The Impact of Political Inheritance

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  27 March 2015

James Ockey
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Abstract

Studies of political families in the West focus on political inheritance, or the pattern of children following the careers of their parents. In contrast, studies of political families in other parts of the world focus on nepotism, corruption, and capturing of the political system in a particular area. In this study of political families in Thailand, I seek to distinguish between political inheritance and capturing a local political system. I then focus on political inheritance, finding that it is much more common than capturing a locality in Thailand. Working with a database of all members of the Thai parliament since 1932, I find that political inheritance benefits younger candidates and female candidates, with members of political families able to enter parliament at a younger age, and with women members of parliament more likely to come from a political family than men. I find further that political inheritance is found in all regions of Thailand, including Bangkok, and is not associated with different levels of development or regional cultures. With the strengthening of political parties and a declining birth rate, the number of families in the Thai parliament has declined, but has stabilised at a lower level. This indicates that political families are adapting to change, and can be expected to continue to play an important role in Thai politics.

Keywords

Corruptionpolitical inheritanceThailandnepotismpolitical family
Type
Articles
Information
TRaNS: Trans-Regional and -National Studies of Southeast Asia , Volume 3 , Special Issue 2: Bequeathing Families , July 2015 , pp. 191 - 211
Copyright
Copyright © Institute of East Asian Studies, Sogang University 2015 

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