The Political Economy of Vietnam’s Economic Development: Searching for Nature of the State

Abstract

Vietnam’s reform policy ‘Doimoi’ adopted in 1986 is a historical turning point of the country’s development. From a centrally planned economy, the state has untied the economy and allowed a series of ‘fence-breaking’ changes to transform itself into a socialist-oriented market one. Throughout the reforming process, the Communist Party of Vietnam (CPV) has always played a critical role in creating significant developmental outcomes. Based on Doimoi’s outcomes, there are various approaches aiming to conceptualize Vietnam’s development model such as efforts of flying geese model or developmental state model. However, examining the Vietnamese state under the ‘hard state’ prism is the first time done through this study. The ‘hard state’ approach provides in-depth analyses about the nature of the Vietnamese state which focuses on Vietnamese leadership, the social-political system and insights about various elements of not only economics but also the country’s long course of its social and political development. Findings suggest that the Vietnamese state is characterized as a ‘hard state,’ but also bears the most basic features of a developmental state since Doimoi. This implies that the ‘hard’ nature of the CPV’s leadership has been the key determinant of the successful Doimoi policy. However, a ‘hard state’ merely provides necessary conditions that are required by a developmental state for further rapid growth. Besides that, the geopolitical strategy of the Vietnamese state has always played a critical role in the country’s policy implementation and development process. Therefore, consideration of the nature of the Vietnamese state based on both internal and external perspectives of the hard state and development state model may reflect a better picture over the course of development in Vietnam.