Tai Lieu Chat Luong Vietnam’s Political Process In a system that is known for its covert political style, Vietnam’s decision- making process is often described as either consensus-based or simply confusing and inexplicable. This book provides an approach to understanding political decision-making in Vietnam by recognizing enduring values that are derived from State-controlled education and official historical narratives. The nation’s official historical narrative has led to the development of pro- tected values that are called upon during political decision-making. In order to secure these values, such as regime stability, national independence, and social order, officials must act within accepted rules of appropriate political behavior.
The book shows that through State-run education, mandatory defense training, and membership in mass organizations, Vietnamese citizens are taught social and political ethics, and their identity is moulded in concert with this process. Using textbooks and education to understand the underlying values within Vietnam’s society is used as the contextual framework for two case studies – the problem of landmines and the on-going threat of avian influenza – which examine how authorities frame problems, negotiate, and deal with potential crises. This book will be of great interest to academics and students within Asian studies, but also for policy makers involved with the country and those under- standing business in Vietnam, including non-governmental organizations, private businesses and charitable groups. Casey Lucius is an Associate Professor at the Naval War College, Monterey, California and was the operations assistant to the US ambassador to Vietnam.
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McCarthy Gerry van Klinken 23 Rebellion and Reform in 16 Singapore in the Global System Indonesia Relationship, structure and change Jakarta’s security and autonomy Peter Preston polices in Aceh Michelle Ann Miller 17 Chinese Big Business in Indonesia 24 Hadrami Arabs in Present-day The state of the capital Indonesia Christian Chua An Indonesia-oriented group with an Arab signature 18 Ethno-religious Violence in Frode F. Jacobsen Indonesia From soil to god 25 Vietnam’s Political Process Chris Wilson How education shapes political decision-making 19 Ethnic Politics in Burma Casey Lucius States of conflict Ashley South 20 Democratization in Post- Suharto Indonesia Edited by Marco Bünte and Andreas Ufen Vietnam’s Political Process How education shapes political decision-making Casey Lucius First published 2009 by Routledge 2 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon OX14 4RN Simultaneously published in the USA and Canada by Routledge 270 Madison Ave, New York, NY 10016 Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an informa business This edition published in the Taylor & Francis e-Library, 2010. To purchase your own copy of this or any of Taylor & Francis or Routledge’s collection of thousands of eBooks please go to www. All rights reserved.
No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced or utilized in any form or by any electronic, mechanical, or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publishers. British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data Lucius, Casey. Vietnam’s political process: how education shapes political decision- making/Casey Lucius. Includes bibliographical references.
Public administration–Vietnam. Education–Political aspects– Vietnam. Decision-making–Political aspects–Vietnam. Political culture–Vietnam.
Vietnam–Politics and government.609597–dc22 2008052562 ISBN 0-203-87616-4 Master e-book ISBN ISBN10: 0-415-49812-0 (hbk) ISBN10: 0-203-87616-4 (ebk) ISBN13: 978-0-415-49812-8 (hbk) ISBN13: 978-0-203-87616-9 (ebk) Contents List of illustrations ix Preface x Acknowledgments xx 1 Introduction 1 Rule-following and decision-making literature 2 Vietnam’s political structure 8 Perspectives on current decision-making 12 2 A historical and cultural framework 15 The official historical discourse 16 Creating an official culture 23 Conclusion 25 3 Review of Vietnamese text books and defense education 27 The current structure and priority of education 29 Main themes taught to Vietnamese citizens 30 The values taught to today’s leadership 48 Summary and conclusion 50 4 A case study on the National Landmine Impact Survey in Vietnam 57 The nature and extent of the problem 57 Entities involved in the National Landmine Impact Survey 61 Actions taken on the landmine/UXO problem 62 Phase I of the National Landmine Impact Survey 64 Phase II of the National Landmine Impact Survey 76 Data collected from interviews and literature 80 Analysis of decision-making 81 viii Contents 5 A case study on Vietnam’s response to AI 87 The nature and extent of the problem 87 Decisions made by Vietnamese officials 93 International and intra-national partners 96 Actions taken against AI in Vietnam 98 Future actions to be taken against AI in Vietnam 104 Existing challenges for Vietnamese officials 105 Vietnam’s achievements in the fight against AI 109 Analysis of decision-making 110 6 Comparison and analysis of two case studies 115 7 Other things to consider about decision-making in Vietnam 122 The role of the people in political decision-making 122 The role of mass organizations 126 The role of the media 129 Economic factors 132 The possibility of political change 134 Conclusion 136 8 Conclusion 138 Rules and protected values 139 The official role of the people and the party 141 Future changes 142 Final thoughts 145 Appendix A: political system of Vietnam 147 Appendix B: Government of Vietnam 148 Appendix C: political bureau members 150 Notes 151 Bibliography 171 Index 179 Illustrations Figures 1 Map indicating landmine survey locations 78 2 Provinces in Vietnam affected by avian influenza 91 3 Communist Party of Vietnam structure; central to commune level 123 4 Vietnamese government structure with US equivalents 124 Table 1 Cumulative number of confirmed human cases of avian influenza A/H5N1 reported by WHO, 10 September 2008 89 Preface This book seeks to provide one approach for better understanding the way in which Vietnam’s top political officials make policy decisions. In a system that is known for its covert political style, Vietnam’s decision-making process is often described as either consensus-based, or simply confusing and inexplicable. Alter- natively, this book provides evidence to show that the political behavior of Viet- namese officials can be understood first through a pattern of recognizing and emphasizing enduring values and institutions and, second, through consideration of national preferences and consequences. This writing reflects how the nation’s official historical narrative has affected the psychology of citizens and political leaders alike.
A narrative centered on the nation’s wartime past and life under a subsidy economy has led to the development of protected values that are called upon during political decision-making. Further, in order to secure these values, such as regime stability, national independence, and social order, officials must act within accepted rules of appropriate political behavior. This book will show that through education, mandatory defense training, and membership in mass organizations, Vietnamese citizens are taught social and political ethics, and more importantly, their identity is molded in concert with this process. Vietnamese identity is taught and imposed rather than created or discovered, and the political system spends a great deal of time perpetuating the meaning of identities and the principles of proper behavior.
Therefore, protected values, such as those men- tioned above, inform the rules that set boundaries for political and social behav- ior, and consequently, policies serve to establish boundaries intended to secure an accepted national identity. Two current policy issues will illustrate how national preferences and protected values overlap and coexist. Case studies on the land- mine problem in Vietnam and the Government’s approach to avian influenza will demonstrate how ministerial-level officials utilize protected values in order to safeguard both the people and territory of Vietnam, but mostly to secure the legit- imacy and identity of the Communist Party. This book will be of use to anyone wanting to learn more about Vietnam, but also those who are interested in alternative political decision-making models.
The findings in this book should not be limited to only understanding Vietnam- ese political processes, but may also provide a broader understanding into the ways in which historical narratives are used during the decision-making process. Preface xi The approach used to better understand Vietnam’s political system could be used to study and learn about other governments with a similar structure, including China, Cuba, and North Korea. Similarly, because many Asian nations experi- enced a history of colonialism and foreign wars, the methods used for better understanding Vietnam’s history and the development of its cultural values could also be used to examine how these factors influence modern day politics in other Southeast Asian nations including Laos, Cambodia, Indonesia, and the Philippines. There have been many authors who have written on Vietnam’s history, particularly on the nation’s experiences during wartime, and there have been a few scholars who have studied and written about Vietnam’s political system, but there is a clear gap in the existing literature explaining or describing Vietnam’s political decision-making process.
The need exists for an in-depth analysis of Vietnam’s political practices and this book will begin to fulfill this need. Methodology Much of the research conducted for this book took place between 2005–08 while I was living and working in Hà Nội. During this time, I was exposed to social customs and norms, work processes, economic and political changes, and overall internal dynamics. In Vietnam, doing research is not always easy and it is diffi- cult to approach officials unless you are directly linked to an institution in Vietnam or traveling on an academic visa.
I was not associated with any aca- demic institution in Vietnam although I was indirectly linked with the US Embassy and the Hà Nội University. Because I taught at the Ha Nội University of Foreign Studies, I was able to conduct research at the National Library, and while working with the US Ambassador, I was able to meet with provincial and ministerial-level officials. I approached this project by first familiarizing myself with Vietnam’s accepted and approved historical narratives and State-constructed culture. I did this by studying the existing literature on these topics, which will be reviewed in Chapter 1.
I also found it worthwhile to study Vietnamese high school text books to see how history and culture are taught to Vietnamese youth by Vietnamese teachers. Through the examination of text books, I was able to see the beginning stages of the development of protected values that are taught at all levels of society and that may be called upon at different times by both children and adults.