United Front: Projecting Solidarity Through Deliberation in Vietnam's Single-Party Legislature

270 Pages·2021·2.974 MB·English

by  Paul Schuler

United Front
Studies of the Walter H. Shorenstein Asia- Pacific Research Center
Andrew G. Walder, General Editor
The Walter H. Shorenstein Asia- Pacific Research Center in the Freeman
Spogli Institute for International Studies at Stanford University sponsors in-
terdisciplinary research on the politics, economies, and societies of contem-
porary Asia. This monograph series features academic and policy- oriented
research by Stanford faculty and other scholars associated with the Center.
United Front
Projecting Solidarity through
Deliberation in Vietnam’s
Single- Party Legislature
Paul Schuler
Stanford University Press
Stanford, California
Stanford University Press
Stanford, California
© 2021 by the Board of Trustees of the Leland Stanford Junior University.
All rights reserved.
No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means,
electronic or mechanical, including photocopying and recording, or in any infor-
mation storage or retrieval system without the prior written permission of Stanford
University Press.
Printed in the United States of America on acid- free, archival- quality paper
Library of Congress Cataloging- in- Publication Data
Names: Schuler, Paul, 1979– author.
Title: United front : projecting solidarity through deliberation in Vietnam’s
single-p arty legislature / Paul Schuler.
Other titles: Studies of the Walter H. Shorenstein Asia- Pacific Research Center.
Description: Stanford : Stanford University Press, 2021. | Series: Studies of the
Walter H. Shorenstein Asia- Pacific Research Center | Includes bibliographical
references and index.
Identifiers: LCCN 2020025604 (print) | LCCN 2020025605 (ebook) |
ISBN 9781503614628 (cloth) | ISBN 9781503614741 (paperback) |
ISBN 9781503614758 (epub)
Subjects: LCSH: Vietnam. Quốc hội. | Legislative bodies—Vietnam. |
One- party systems—Vietnam. | Authoritarianism—Vietnam. | Vietnam—
Politics and government—1975–
Classification: LCC JQ854 .S45 2021 (print) | LCC JQ854 (ebook) |
DDC 328.597—dc23
LC record available at https:// lccn .loc .gov /2020025604
LC ebook record available at https:// lccn .loc .gov /2020025605
Cover design: Kevin Barrett Kane
Typeset by BookComp, Inc. in 11/14 Adobe Garamond Pro
To Mary
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Contents
List of Illustrations ix
Acknowledgments xiii
Introduction 1
1 The Signaling Trap: Why Single- Party Legislatures
Must Be Controlled 17
2 How Elections Work in Vietnam 49
3 “Unconditional Party Government”:
Legislative Organization in the VNA 67
4 Explaining the Evolution of the VNA 87
5 Mobilized or Motivated? Voting Behavior
in Vietnamese Elections 124
6 Explaining Oversight Behavior: Position Taking
or Position Ducking? 143
7 Intimidation or Legitimation? The Signaling Value
of the VNA 170
viii Contents
Conclusion: Curbing Our Expectations for the VNA,
Single- Party Legislatures 189
Notes 203
References 221
Index 241
Illustrations
Figures
2.1. Malapportionment in the VNA 51
2.2. Candidates per seat in the VNA 52
3.1. Structure of the VNA, 2016. 69
4.1. Days per session of the VNA, 1964–2015 103
4.2. Percentage of delegates in the legislature full time,
1976–2016 105
4.3. VNA laws and VNASC decisions passed per year,
1975–2016 106
4.4. Days in VNA session and laws per session, 1975–2016 107
4.5. Relationship between candidates per seat and non- party
members, 1976–2020 115
5.1. SF ratio in Vietnam and Thailand 130
5.2. Hypothetical distribution of SF ratio, FL ratio,
and implications for behavior 131
5.3. SF ratio and FL ratio in electoral districts,
Thailand (1995 and 1996) and Vietnam (2016) 132
5.4. Education and general political knowledge among voters 140
5.5. Education and knowledge of candidates among voters 141
6.1. How the panel dataset was constructed 150
6.2. Change in VNA oversight attention/Internet interest on
selected issues 151
6.3. Google searches for the South China Sea. 155
6.4. Google searches for Cu Huy Ha Vu and Le Cong Dinh 158
ix