BUDDHADHAMMA INTEGRATION FOR PROMOTION FOR YOUTH’S DEMOCRATIC CITIZENSHIP IN NONTHABURI PROVINCE

Abstract

This research aimed to : 1. Study the general status of democratic citizenship of youth in Nonthaburi Province, 2. Study the factors affecting democratic citizenship of youth in Nonthaburi Province, and 3. Propose guidelines for promoting democratic citizenship of youth in Nonthaburi Province by integrating the 6 principles of Saraniyadhamma. The research results found that: 1. The general condition of democratic citizenship of youth in Nonthaburi Province is at a high level. When considering each aspect in order of average, the results of the study found that the aspect of social and public responsibility was at the highest level, followed by all aspects at a high level in order of importance, namely, self-responsibility and self-reliance, respect for the principle of equality, respect for rules, respect for the rights of others, and respect for differences. 2. The factors affecting democratic citizenship of youth in Nonthaburi Province are 5 aspects with statistical significance at the 0.01 level, in order: 1. Educational institutions, 2. Political institutions, 3. Family institutions, 4. Peer groups, and 5. Media. The political nurturing process can jointly predict democratic citizenship of youth in Nonthaburi Province by 92.40 percent. The 6 principles of Saraniyadhamma that affect the citizenship in a democratic regime of youth in Nonthaburi Province in all 3 aspects with statistical significance at 0.01, respectively, are: Metta-Vajīkamma (speaking to others with love and kindness), Sila-Samaññata (having honest and good behavior, maintaining public discipline), Ditthi-Samaññata (respecting and listening to each other’s opinions and having common opinions), Sathanabhokhi (distributing for everyone to share and use equally), Metta-Manokamma (thinking of each other with kindness, i.e., wishing well), and Metta-Kaya-Kamma (acting to each other with kindness). This indicates that the 6 principles of Saraniyadhamma can jointly predict the citizenship in a democratic regime of youth in Nonthaburi Province by 94.70 percent.