Gender Inequality in Political Spheres: A Case Study of Elected Members of the House of Representative in Khon Kaen Province 2019.

Abstract

The purposes of this research were 1. to study female candidate factors affecting being elected to become a member of the House of Representatives 2. to study power, duties, and roles of female members of the House of Representatives in Khon Kaen province and 3. to analyze gender inequality problem in politics in Khon Kaen province. This is a qualitative research.  Semi-structured interview was used as research instrument. Target group was 11 persons, comprising (1) 2 female members of the House of Representatives in Khon Kaen, (2) 3 male members of the House of Representatives from districts of Khon Kaen, (3) 1 former female member of the House of Representatives in Khon Kaen, (4) 2 non-elected female candidates of members of the House of Representatives and (5) 3 general people over the age of 18 who are entitled to vote. The data obtained from the interviews and relevant documents were analyzed through content analysis. The research indicated that (1) factors of female candidates of members of the House of Representatives in terms of age, education level, social status, and other factors partially had effects on being elected by people as well as policies of a certain political party (2) with regard to power, duties, and roles of members of the House of Representatives, some parts of power and duties were prescribed in the Constitution, not covering many aspects. By the way, gender discrimination and gender inequality in the Parliament apparently declines. In terms of what people expect, it was viewed as incomplete since there was a lack of public hearing or response to the needs of people was not sufficient, (3) with regard to gender inequality in politics, attitudes about inequality in the past did not affect genders in today’s society and political spheres.