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Trang 1HO CHI MINH NATIONAL ACADEMY OF POLITICS
NGUYEN THI HONG MINH
THE INFLUENCE OF POLITICAL CULTURE ON THE DEMOCRATIC PROGRESS IN VIETNAM TODAY
SUMMARY OF THE DOCTORAL THESIS
MAJOR: POLITICAL SCIENCE
Code: 9 31 02 01
HA NOI - 2022
Trang 2The thesis is completed at the
Ho Chi Minh National Academy of Politics
Supervisor: Assoc Prof., Dr Trinh Thi Xuyen
At…… hour…… date …… month …… year……
The thesis can be found at the National Library and
the Library of Ho Chi Minh National Academy of Politics
Trang 3INTRODUCTION
1 The rationale of the study
The third wave of democracy has raised high expectations for democracy activists and political scholars about the universal trend of Western values and models of liberal democracy However, after the recession period of this democratic wave, world politics has been witnessing democracies developing into very different scenarios This fact led the hypothesis of compatibility of democracies with different socio-cultural contexts, which had been proposed by cultural relativism scholars, to be taken into consideration This theory argues that, if democracy is considered be an invention of Western civilization, it would also be alien to non-western cultural contexts, so
it inevitably creates the need to adjust democratic values that are inherently recognized by the West, while creating models of democracy suitable for each culture of different countries This approach was then confronted with the criticism that, so whether there are cultures where people feel more satisfied with dictatorship than with democracy? Obviously, the public uprisings during the Arab Spring and the expansion of civil liberties in Asian countries disproved this hypothesis Moreover, it also reduces the reliability of statements about the localization of cultural characteristics in influencing democratic values and models
Trang 4Thus, the above arguments have revealed the limitations of both approaches: the universalization and the localization of cultural factors This has led to changes in approaches to the influence of culture on democracy Instead of accepting or not accepting democratic values in different cultural contexts; there is a more balanced and practical approach that putting the question: Which model of democracy will work better in a particular cultural context?
This approach leads to a research hypothesis, which suggest the existence of correlation between characteristics of a democratic model and specific values of a society This helps explain the fact that
a particular country is willing to embrace this model of democracy but
at the same time has doubts about the others Therefore, the application and practice of a model of democracy have influenced on
of the great value conflicts of the times: Between the East and the West; between the eft-wing and the right-wing; between big countries (dominant cultures) and small countries (influenced culture)
Trang 5This feature along with endogenous factors have contributed to shaping the political culture with the priority values of the Vietnamese people Those values inevitably have had important influences on the people's participation in political life and at the same time shaped the country's democratic progress The process of integration and development requires countries to study theories and find the right democratic model for themselves and Vietnam is no exception Therefore, every country faces the need to better understand itself, including understanding the values that are prioritized and widely shared by their own national community
In Vietnam today, there have been many works discussing political culture and democracy, but there is still a knowledge gap that has not been studied commensurately with its importance, related to the research question: What are the priority values of Vietnamese political culture? How do those values influence on the Vietnam’s democratic progress? If we want to change political cultural values in
a way that is conducive to democratic progress, it is important to answer this research question In that case, we will known what to change and how to change,
For the above reasons, the author has selected the topic "The influence of political culture on the democratic progress in Vietnam today"
Trang 62 Research purpose and tasks
2.1 Research purpose
Based on the theoretical framework of political culture, democracy and the influence of political culture on democracy, the thesis identifies the typical values of Vietnamese political culture and its effects on the democratic progress of Vietnam today, and evaluate that influence
2.2 Research tasks
- Giving an overall assessment of research related to the topic of
the thesis and pointing out issues that need further research
Clarifying the concepts of political culture, democracy and the influence of political culture on democracy
- Giving an overview of the democratic progress of Vietnam from 1986 to Present
- Identifing the typical values of Vietnam's political culture
- Analyzing the current state of influence of the typical values of Vietnam's political culture on the democratic progress of Vietnam today
- Evaluating the influence of the typical values of Vietnam's political culture on the democratic progress of Vietnam today
3 Object and scope of the research
3.1 Object of the research
The research object of the thesis is the influence of political culture on the democratic progress in Vietnam
Trang 73.2 Scope of the research
- Regarding the space
The Vietnamese political culture studied in the thesis is the general political culture of Vietnam, regardless of region
- Regarding the time
Vietnam's democratic progress is studied in the current period, from Doi Moi (1986) to the present This period has winessed strong economic, social and political changes and the transformation in the people's awareness and political participation behavior
4 Research methodology
The thesis uses the Marxist - Leninist methodology of dialectical materialism and historical materialism Based on the above methodology, the thesis uses specific research methods such as the analysis and synthesis method; statistical method; comparative method; logical method; historical - specific method; and case study method
5 New contributions of the thesis
Firstly, the thesis develops an analytical framework on the
influence of political culture on the democratic progress in general In which, the thesis introduces a concept of political culture and the dimensions of political culture and democracy as the basis for analyzing the above influence
Trang 8Secondly, on the basis of selecting typical political and cultural
values of Vietnam, the thesis analyzes the reality of the influence of political culture on the democratic progress in Vietnam
Third, the thesis assesses the compatibility and incompatibility of
typical cultural and political values to the democratic progreess of Vietnam, and proposes solutions in the coming period
6 Academic and practical significance of the thesis
6.1 Academic significance
The research results of the thesis contributes to completing the framework of political culture and its influence on the democratic progress of Vietnam
6.2 Practical significance
The results of the thesis are references for the Party and the State
in the process of improving the democracy of Vietnam under influence of political culture The thesis is also a valuable reference in
studying and teaching relevant issues
7 Structure of the thesis
In addition to the introduction, conclusion, list of references, and appendices, the thesis consists of 04 chapters, with 12 headings
Trang 9Chapter 1 OVERVIEW OF RESEARCH SITUATION RELATING
TO THE THESIS
1.1 LITERATURE REVIEW ON POLITICAL CULTURE AND VIETNAM’S POLITICAL CULTURE
1.1.1 Research related to political culture
The study of research works on political culture shows that political culture is interested in researching around theoretical issues such as the concept of political culture, the influence of political culture to political progresses and its relationships with other institutions
1.1.2 Research related to Vietnam’political culture
The works have analyzed the characteristics of Vietnamese political culture and its changes in the context of international integration
1.2 LITERATURE REVIEW ON DEMOCRACY AND DEMOCRACY IN VIETNAM
1.2.1 Research related to democracy
The works have studied universal democratic values and democratic models, mainly in Western countries In particular, many works confirm the specificity of democratic values and models associated with different cultural contexts
Trang 101.2.2 Research related to democratic progress in Vietnam
The works focus on studying the characteristics of socialist democracy in Vietnam and the democratic progress from Doi Moi to the present
1.3 LITERATURE REVIEW ON THE INFLUENCE OF POLITICAL CULTURE ON THE DEMOCRATIC PROGRESS
1.3.1 Research related to the influence of political culture on the democratic progress
Works have focused on the relationship between the quality of a democratic system and the existence of essential values in a society
1.3.2 Research related to the influence of political culture of Asian on the democratic progress
The works have discussed the democratic values typical of Asia under the influence of Eastern cultural and social values
1.3.3 Research related to the influence of political culture on the democratic progress in Vietnam
The works focus on analyzing the relationship between culture and other institutions and clarifying the role of Vietnam’s political culture in the operation of democratic institutions
1.4 GENERAL ASSESMENT AND ISSUES FOR FURTHER RESEARCH
1.4.1 General assessment
- The basic works agree on the concept of political culture which
Trang 11are the values shared by the community in the progress of participating in social life
- Many works have highly appreciated the role of political culture
as well as its influence on political life in general and the democratic progress in particular
Although there are many different approaches, the use of Western democratic models as the standard for democratic evaluations or overemphasizing cultural factors has been strongly criticized Accordingly, an approach on the compatibility of cultural factors with
a suitable democratic model has been widely shared by both Eastern and Western political scientists
When discussing Vietnamese political culture, recent studies have tried to point out the core political cultural values as well as its changes in the current context
1.4.2 Issues for further research in the thesis
- While the debates about Western and Eastern democracy are still ongoing, carefully consideration between these two views is necessary
- The current researches on Vietnamese political culture are quite scattered, so it is necessary to identify the typical values of Vietnam’s political culture and study its influence on the democratic progress of Vietnam
Although political culture is a slow-changing factor, it is not
Trang 12independent and constant Furthermore, every political culture value always include compatible and incompatible elements for democracy Therefore, studies need to provide suggestions to adjust the political culture so that it is conducive to the development of democracy in Vietnam today
The above issues, either unresolved or unsatisfactory, will continue to be clarified during the research progress of the thesis
Sub-conclusion of chapter 1
In Chapter 1, the thesis has done a literature review on research related to the topic “The influence of political culture on the democratic progress in Vietnam today” It can be seen that there has been much scientific research related to the thesis topic, but research
on Vietnam’s political culture values and its influence on democracy Therefore, the thesis implements this topic to partially fill the above knowledge gap
Trang 13Chapter 2 ANALYTICAL FRAMEWORK
ON THE INFLUENCE OF POLITICAL CULTURE
TO DEMOCRACY PROGRESS
2.1 THE CONCEPT AND THE DIMENSIONS OF POLITICAL CULTURE
2.1.1 The concept of political culture
First, political culture is the values that orient people’s political behavior
Values orient citizens' political behavior, but not all values are equally important to all communities There has been an order of preference between values in different communities and even between different periods within the same community (both in space and time)
Second, political culture is the result of the accumulated reason
and subjective perception
Rationality is the widespread recognition of a community and the subjective perception resulting from that community's experience In this thesis, the concept of "culture" does not contain scientific objectivity as in natural science which reflects the only necessity, but
it is subjective when people live in a community and it has reason for the community itself
Trang 14Third, political culture is widely shared in the community and is sustainable
Political culture is the values shared by the community This emphasizes the community's sharing in the image of "a social order", the legitimacy of procedures (including unwritten ones) to resolve disagreements and strengthen legal cooperation That is, it implies a sharing in the legitimacy of puplic power
From the above approach, the thesis uses the concept of political culture as follows: Political culture is the values that orient political behavior of individuals, which are sustainable and widely shared in the community The order of priority for values determines the
specific political culture of each community
2.1.2 The dimensions of political culture
2.1.2.1 Criteria for the selection of the dimensions of politics culture
Due to the richness of aspects of political culture, it is necessary to have criteria for selecting aspects suitable to research objectives and tasks The aspects of political culture selected by the thesis will be:
First, the universality of the political cultural aspects in modern
studies
Second, the explanatory capacity of aspects to the democratic
progress in countries
Third, the number of selected aspects is suitable with the
objectives, tasks and research methods of the thesis
Trang 152.1.2.2 Content of the dimensions of political culture
The first dimension: Community emphasizing - Individual emphasizing
With emphasized community societies, members have stronger cohensions, while emphasized individual societies are more protecting the rights and interests of individuals as well as self-expression
The second dimension: Hierachical emphasizing - Equal emphasizing
Hierarchical societies tend to emphasize the role of the leader and the hierarchical relationship that the basis for an orderly and stable society Equality societies uphold the values of equality, justice, rationality, and individual self-determination
The Third dimension: Harmonious emphasizing - Competitive emphasizing
Harmonious societies value cooperation and agreement between individuals and groups in the process of participating in management Competitive societies emphasize the orientation of control, mastery, and competition in the progress of participating in political life
2.2 THE CONCEPT OF DEMOCRACY
2.2.1 Democracy is the right of the people
Democracy is the guarantee of people's rights, including human rights and citizenship The concept of democracy is therefore a universal value system