Vietnam. Politics in contemporary Vietnam: Party, state, and authority relations Edited by Jonathan D. London Houndmills: Palgrave Macmillan, 2014. Pp. 230. Notes, Bibliography, Index.

Abstract

Politics in contemporary Vietnam: Party, state, and authority relations Edited by JONATHAN D. LONDON Houndmills: Palgrave Macmillan, 2014. Pp. 230. Notes, Bibliography, Index. doi: 10.1017/S0022463416000667 As the Vietnamese economy further grows and the country pursues broader international integration, it becomes better known to the outside world, and academic research on the country's economy has expanded enormously. In contrast, its contemporary politics remains largely under-explored territory. The number of international scholars working on Vietnamese politics also tends to dwindle as the older generation of Vietnam watchers have become less active or diverted their research interests to other areas, while the younger generation have yet to catch up. Inside the country, national politics is deemed a 'sensitive' subject, further discouraging the study of the issue by Vietnamese researchers. Politics in contemporary Vietnam, edited by Jonathan D. London, is perhaps the only notable recent book-length examination of Vietnamese politics. That fact alone ensures that the book deserves some serious attention from those interested in the country. Apart from the introduction and conclusion by the editor, the volume is composed of seven chapters dealing with three major themes, namely the politics of the Communist Party of Vietnam (CPV), the state administrative apparatus, and the representative institutions and mass organisation. In Chapter 2, Tuong Vu provides a background for the book by examining the evolution of the CPV from its early days into the present. Vu argues that the CPV is currently in decline and describes the Party since 1986 to be in a state of a 'continuing decay'. Vu bases his argument on the perceived large-scale corruption and cronyism within the Party system, as well as the erosion of the Party's rural support base due to the country's shift to an industrial economy. However, Vu posits that the Party still has many tools and measures at its disposal to prolong its survival, including rising nationalism. In two related chapters, Benedict J. Tria Kerkvliet (Chapter 6) and Carlyle A. Thayer (Chapter 7) discuss the nature of the CPV's authoritarian regime. Thayer dissects the country's repressive apparatus, focusing on the role of four state organs: the Ministry of Public Security, People's Armed Security Force, General Directorate II (military intelligence), and the Ministry of Culture and Information (now Ministry of Information and Communication). Thayer's account highlights the repressive nature of the regime and details their various measures to crack down on political dissidents. Meanwhile, Kerkvliet takes issue with some authors' claims that the Vietnamese government 'does not tolerate any challenge to its one-party rule', or that the CPV 'tolerates no dissent or opposition'. While sharing the view that the CPV regime is generally authoritarian and repressive, Kerkvliet also argues that the Party actually tolerates a certain level of dissent as long as the dissidents do not act in an organised manner and directly threaten its rule. Specifically, through an analysis of how the regime treated 62 dissidents, the author concludes that having a history of service to the government or the party, or not being a prominent member of a dissident organisation, may reduce the likelihood of a dissident being arrested and imprisoned. In their chapters on Vietnam's state apparatus, while Thaveeporn Vasavakul (Chapter 3) analyses the evolving accountability relations within the one-party system, Thomas Jandl (Chapter 4) examines the relationship between the central and local governments as well as between local leaders and the central authorities during the process of decentralisation. Specifically, Vasavakul analyses Vietnam's efforts to introduce accountability mechanisms into the operation of the state system. Accordingly, she finds that intra-state institutional competition and conflict play an important role in promoting accountability and thus shaping the evolution of Vietnam's one-party system. …