http://orcid.org/0000-0003-0958-042X
![Sample our Area Studies journals, sign in here to start your access, latest two full volumes FREE to you for 14 days]({"type":"image" , "src" : "/sda/5922/TOC-Subject-Sample-2021-Area-Studies.jpg"})
Abstract
The Vietnamese party-state has been seeking to develop the concept of a socialist law-based state in an effort to provide a legal-rational justification for its rule. One of the key pillars in the construction of a socialist law-based state has been electoral governance. Unlike the popular understanding proliferated by the Western media about the meaning of elections in authoritarian countries, I argue that elections are of significance to the political life of the Vietnamese party-state even without pressure from any political opposition. This is because there is a growing need for the party-state to make the elections work more effectively to bolster its legitimacy. Along with the process of promoting the concept of a Vietnamese socialist law-based state, continuous reforms of the electoral integrity system have been considered and cautiously implemented. An important aspect of the reform is to ensure the values, purposes and duties for which power is entrusted to or held by electoral institutions are honoured. It is argued that the process of building a more integrated national system of rules and values has been set in motion but many setbacks have occurred from time to time, making it a dynamic process.
Acknowledgments
The author would like to express sincere thanks to Melissa Curley and Stephen McCarthy for their tremendous editorial support and patience, and to the ASR editors and reviewers for their generous and thought-provoking comments.
Notes
1. Informant, May 2016.
2. Although the official names of the single party in power in Laos (Lao People’s Revolutionary Party) and that in North Korea (Workers’ Party of Korea) do not include the word “communist”, they are generally seen as communist party regimes.
3. In this article, I only consider the elections in the unified Vietnam since the declaration of independence in 1945, thus excluding the elections in both the North and the South of the divided Vietnam in the wartime period of 1954–75 from the scope of the study.
4. See Lê Mậu Hãn, “Cuộc tổng tuyển cử đầu tiên năm 1946 - một mốc son lịch sử nhảy vọt về thể chế dân chủ”, Nhân dân, dated 8 December 2005.
5. The Law on Election of NAV Members was promulgated in 1959, 1980, 1992 and 1997, and amended in 2001 and 2010. It is now in the process of revision after the 2013 Constitution came into force.
6. The NEC Chairman for the 2011 election was Nguyen Phu Trong, the newly elected CPV General Secretary and incumbent NAV Chairman. The three Vice Chairpersons were Tong Thi Phong, a CPV Politburo member and incumbent Vice Chairwoman of the NAV; Nguyen Sinh Hung, a CPV Politburo member, and the incumbent Deputy Prime Minister, later the NAV Chairman after the 2011 election; and Nguyen Thi Doan, a CPV CC member and incumbent Vice President of the state. See Resolution No. 1018/NQ-UBTVQH12 dated 21 January 2011 issued by the Standing Committee of the NAV.
7. The only independent (self-nominated) candidate who won a seat on the NAV in the 2007 election was Nguyen Minh Hong from Nghe An province.
8. See http://vneconomy.vn/thoi-su/chua-nen-cho-phep-tu-van-dong-bau-cu-tai-viet-nam-20140814085453202.htm
9. For a thorough analysis of the meaning of and issues with the party Constitution, see Sidel (Citation2008).
