Assessing Socialist Democracy in Vietnam

Abstract This chapter is based on Ph.D. research conducted between 2003 and 2005 on post-Doi Moi Vietnam, roughly in the 1986–2005 period. My thesis focused on the role of the state-owned economy in the transition to a ‘market economy with a socialist orientation’, as the Communist Party of Vietnam (CPV) describes its objectives in this period. The question of socialist democracy was not central to this focus but formed a crucial background, given the importance of socialist democracy in Marxist theory. The research included interviews with 25 theoreticians, academics, and other members of the CPV or mass organisations; a questionnaire for 150 further cadre; interviews with managerial, party or trade union staff of 20 State-Owned Enterprises (SOEs), with trade unionists, cadres from the Vietnam General Confederation of Labour and other mass organisations, and economic experts and officials in related areas, such as poverty alleviation; site visits to two major state companies, involving discussions with unionists and workers; and an analysis of research reports by state and party bodies, SOEs, trade unions, Non-Government Organisations (NGOs), international economic organisations, theoretical journals, and the mass media. Significant change has occurred since 2005, and while the main body of this paper cannot cover this comprehensively, it has been partially updated with newer information.