Summary of Doctoral thesis in public Administration Management: State management for religious activities in Vietnam today

On the basis of theoretical and practical research on state management of religious activities, the thesis proposes a number of solutions to SMRA in accordance with the law, implementing good policies of the Party and laws of the State in Vietnam today.

NATIONAL ACADEMY OF PUBLIC

SUMMARY OF DOCTORAL THESIS

IN PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION MANAGEMENT

HA NOI - 2019

The work is completed at:

NATIONAL ACADEMY OF PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION

Scientific supervisor: 1 Prof PhD Do Quang Hung

2 Ass.Prof PhD Hoang Van Chuc

This thesis can be found at the National Library of Vietnam

or Library of National Academy of Public Administration

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PREFACE

1 The urgency of the thesis

Vietnam is a multi-religious nation At present, religious followers in Vietnam account for a large proportion of 25.3 million (27% of the population) being an important force in the mass unity of the entire people

to build, protect and develop the socialist country of Vietnam [117]

In Vietnam, since its inception, religion has always played an important role in the political, cultural and spiritual life of society, associated with the nation and serving the national interests throughout the history of building and protecting the country Religion is a delicate, sensitive and complex issue Therefore, addressing issues arising from religion needs to be done in a very careful and accurate manner; both demanding to maintain the principles, in accordance with the law, at the same time to be flexible and soft under Ho Chi Minh's ideology and the Party's viewpoint: Respect the rights to freedom of beliefs and faith of the people; Every citizen following religion isequal before the law State management of religious activities (SMRA) shall meet the requirements: both legally and rationally addressing the legitimate and legal belief needs

of the people, but shall timely fight against every conspiracy and plots of exploiting religions to fight against the government, undermining national security

State management for religious activities in recent years has obtained quite important results However, the reality of the state management renovation for religious activities still has many inadequacies that need to

be revised, supplemented and replaced in accordance with the period of accelerating industrialization and modernization and international integration

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Research on SMRA not only performs well the state management of religion but also contributes to perfecting the laws of the socialist rule-of-law state

Therefore, I choose a research topic: “State management of religious activities in Vietnam today” as a doctoral thesis on Public Administration Management

2 Research purposes and tasks

2.1 Research purposes

On the basis of theoretical and practical research on state management

of religious activities, the thesis proposes a number of solutions to SMRA

in accordance with the law, implementing good policies of the Party and laws of the State in Vietnam today

2.2 Research tasks

To achieve this goal, the thesis has the following tasks:

Firstly, overview of the domestic and foreign studies on the contents

of state management for religious activities to determine the research implementation direction of the thesis

Secondly, clarify the rationale of state management of religious activities in Vietnam

Thirdly, analyze the state management practices for religious activities

3.2 Research scope

In respect of time: The thesis studies on the state management of religious activities in Vietnam from 1986 up to now

4.2 Research method of thesis

To implement the content of the thesis, the author uses the following specific research methods: Methods of analysis and synthesis; method of descriptive statistics; method of induction, interpretation; Besides, the author also uses the method of information collection, sociological survey and investigation, etc

5 New scientific contributions of the thesis

5.1 New theoretical contributions

Firstly, the thesis clarifies and deepens the theoretical issues of state management of religious activities

Secondly, the thesis clarifies the content of state management of religious activities; studies on state management experience in religious activities of some countries in the world and reference values for Vietnam 5.2 New practical contribution

Firstly, the thesiscontributes to changing awareness and actions, responsibilities of leaders, managers and managers in the state management process of religious activities

Secondly, the thesis analyzes and interprets the process of formation and development of religions in Vietnam, the current legal provisions, the actual state management practices for religious activities; assess the current status of SMRA in Vietnam today so that leaders and managers have a general view of this field

Thirdly, the thesis proposes solutions to strengtheningSMRA in Vietnam,

in accordance with international practices, creating conditions for religions to operate in line with the Party and policies and the law of the State

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6 Theoretical and practical significance of the thesis

Research results of the thesis are important additions to the development of state management activities on religion, contributing to raising the theoretical awareness about the role of state agencies in management of religious activities

The thesis is used as a material in teaching and learning the Subject of religion Studiesin the system of institutes, universities or making reference materials in teaching at professional training and fostering classes for cadresengaged in religious and civil affairs and mass-mobilization organizations at all levels and for officials and public employees performing tasks in the religious field

2) What are the current state management practices of religious activities in Vietnam?

3) What are the views, directions and solutions to strengthen SMRA in Vietnam in the coming time?

8 Research hypothesis

Hypothesis 1 If the State does not manage the activities of religions, it will affect socio-economic development and national security, social order and safety, culture and values of society

Hypothesis 2 The enhancement of state management of religious activities facilitates people to exercise their freedom of belief through measures and tools of state management; at the same time strictly handling activities of making use of religion, affecting national security, social order and safety; contribute to implementing the Party's views on religious people However, state management of religious activities still shows

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many shortcomings and limitations that do not meet the practical requirements

9 Composition of the thesis

In addition to the Introduction, Conclusion, List of references and Appendices, the thesis is structured in 4 chapters:

Chapter 1 Overview of the research situation related to the thesis Chapter 2 Theoretical basis for state management of religious activities

Chapter 3 Practices in state management of religious activities in Vietnam today

Chapter 4 Viewpoints, directions and solutions to strengthen SMRA

in Vietnam in the coming time

Chapter 1 OVERVIEW ON THE RESEARCH RELATING

TO THE THESIS Currently, researches on SMRA have been mentioned by many researchers, but each workrefers to a different aspect

Overview of research situation relates to the thesis topic in 3 groups (Group of research works on state management theory for religious activities; Group of studies on actual reality of state management for religious activities and group of research projects on state management solutions for religious activities), the thesis points out the problems that have been solved and the values need to be inherited, including:

Firstly, most of the first group of researches are in-depth research on issues such as: laws on religion, position and roles of religion in social life, and the influence of Buddhism on social life, etc., but not mentioning on the content of state management of religious activities Therefore, solutions and policy implications of this group of projects also focus on improving the efficiency instate management of religious activities in the coming time

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Secondly, the research works of the second group have analyzed and evaluated the implementation of policies on religious activities and practices of some religions in Vietnam, the new context of national and international religions that have impacts on Vietnamese religions, social management issues on religion, and asks and questions on some strange religions in Vietnam, etc On the other hand, due to different times of study, different socio-economic contexts and especially different research methods and approaches, the evaluation and analysis of state management

in religious activities in Vietnam also have different points

Thirdly, the group of research works on solutions for state management solutions in religious activities This group of works deeply analyzes the law on religious activities, the Party's viewpoint on religion and current religious issues and some articles with relevant contents However, these works have not studied on solutions to improve state management efficiency in religious activities in perspective of the state management

Since then, the thesis identifies gaps to be directed to clarify and follow up research directions that the thesis implements, including:

Firstly, continue to clarify some theoretical issues on state management of religious activities, state management methods of religious activities, content of state management on religion More importantly, the thesis continues research to form the basic theoretical framework on current state management for religious activities

Secondly, the research worksas summarized above do not have any research giving an overview assessment on the state management of religious activities The thesis continues to study the status of SMRA agencies in the fields, objectively assessing the status of this work management

Thirdly, the thesis proposes solutions to strengthen state management

of religious activities

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Chapter 2 THEORETICAL GROUNDS OF STATE MANAGEMENT

TO THE RELIGIOUS ACTIVITIES

Chapter 2 of the thesis presents the following contents: Concepts, religious characteristics and state management for religious activities; Contents, methods and principles of state management for religious activities; Factors affecting the state management of religious activities; State management experience for religious activities of some countries in the world and reference values for Vietnam

2.1 Concepts, characteristics of religion and state management of religious activities

Religion is the belief of people in supernatural, invisible, sacred forces, intuitively accepted and interacted in a fictional way, to explain the worldly problems as well as in the afterlife ones That belief is manifested

in a variety of ways, depending on different historical periods, cultural geographic circumstances, depending on the content of each religion, which is operated by different rituals and teachings, religious activities of different religious communities and societies

State management of religious activities is the mode of operation conducted by state agencies, organizations or individuals to ensure the management of religion be performed in line with guidelines, policies, laws, regulations on religious activities to serve the construction and socio-economic development of the country associated with the stabilityin socio-politics and people's life

Religion has the following common characteristics: Religion is a product of social development at a certain level; religion is a world of spirituality, it is invisible and fuzzy, but unconscious, instinct and almost eliminates the reason, the science; religion is an area that expresses the power of the gods to escape the power of society, but in fact religion is always associated with society, directly or indirectly related to politics and society; religion in its original nature is humane, wants to liberate the

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human souls from the attachment of the world; religion always wants to exist forever, asserts itself as a world of eternity, but in fact religion is a form of social awareness; religion always wants to develop in the direction

of becoming a world power so it is spread, evangelized widely and is also believed and followed by people in many countries around the world

The religion of Vietnam has the following characteristics:

Firstly, the majority of religious followers in Vietnam are farmers and come from farmers

Secondly, there are religions that only present in a minority, but the history of the nation's formation and development in the past used to have

a sensitive, national or territorial issues

Thirdly, religions in Vietnam have a large number of dignitaries; carefully selected from religious communities; trained in scale and proper methodologyat religious establishments domestically and abroad; have a full economic life and a prosperous material life, able to meet the religious needs of believers

Fourthly, the religions in Vietnam have a wide international relationship with all the world's religions

Fifthly, the religions in Vietnam have a wide international relationship with all the world's religions

Sixthly, religion is always an area where the forces hostile to Vietnam seek

to exploit and take advantage to oppose the Vietnamese revolution through every period of national development

2.2 Contents, methods and principles of state management of religious activities:

Firstly, develop policies and promulgate legal documents on belief and religion

Secondly, formulate regulations on organization of state management apparatus on belief and religion

Thirdly, organize the implementation of policies and laws on belief and religion

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Fourthly, make dissemination and education of laws on belief and religion

Fifthly, do research in belief and religious fields; training and fostering

of cadres, civil servants and officials working in religious and religious affairs

Sixthly, inspect, examine, settle complaints and denunciations and handling violations of the law regulations on belief and religion

Seventhly, international relations in the field of belief and religion

In the field of management related to belief and religion, there are 11 contents of state management for religious activities, including:

Firstly, manage the registration of religious organizations and recognize religious organizations; Make division, merger and consolidation of affiliated religious organizations; the registration of religious and religious practitioners, religious monasteries, and religious organizations

Secondly, manage ordination, conferment, appointment, election; discharge, dismissal, transfer in religion; management of religious activity suspension

Thirdly, manage congresses and conferences of religious organizations Fourthly, manage the registration of religious activities (regular, unexpected, out of religious establishments)

Fifthly, manage business, export and import religious books and religious supplies; trading, publishing and publishing religious publications

Sixthly, manage donations; humanitarian charity activities of religions Seventhly, manage the training and fostering of religious activists

Eighthly, state management of religions, land and worship facilities of religions

Ninethly, manage regular and unexpected practice programs

Tentlhly, managereligious international activities and foreign affairs Eleventhly, management of other religious activities, including:

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1) Managing religious dignitaries: The training of dignitaries and religious practitioners in schools must be recognized by the State as a guarantee of normal development of religions, ensuring inheritance for generations of dignitaries and monks The heads of religious dignitaries and religious practitioners are responsible before the law for all activities; 2) Managing the ordination, appointment and transfer of religious dignitaries and priests For this content, the ordination, sealing, appointment, appointment, election must meet certain conditions and be implemented according to the charter and charter of religious organizations; in case of foreign elements, there must be an agreement with the central state management agency on religion;

3) Managing the handling of complaints and complaints related to religion: Pursuant to the Law on Complaints and Denunciations and the religious policies of the Party and State to solve immediately from the grassroots and right authorities of each management level Handling of religious flashpoints must be reasonable, reasonable and lawful

In addition, the registration of seals, seal making, change of seals, separation and merger of grassroots church organizations, transfer of dignitaries, establishment of associations must comply with current law provisions

2.2.2 State management method of religious activities

The state manages religious activities by the following methods: Management by law, management by policy, management by inspection and examination

2.2.3 State management principles in religious activities

The principles of state management for religious activities include: Equality; ensure freedom of belief and religion of citizens; unity between religious activities and preservation of cultural values; ensuring unity, harmony of personal, community and national and social interests; Religious activities for the legitimate and legitimate interests of believers must be ensured

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Religious activities for the benefit of the Fatherland and the People are encouraged All acts of violating the rights to freedom of belief and religion, taking advantage of beliefs and religions to oppose the Socialist Republic of Vietnam, preventing believers from performing their civic obligations, undermining the people unity, harming the healthy culture of the nation and superstitious activities are condemned and sanctioned by law

2.3 Factors affecting state management of religious activities

Factors affecting state management of religious activities include: Political factors, legal documents on religious activities, state management apparatus on religious activities, capacity and qualifications of the contingent of cadres and civil servants, bad forces outside take advantage

of religion, foreign relations and international cooperation

2.4 State management experience in religious activities of some countries in the world and reference values for Vietnam

The thesis studies state management experience for religious activities

of countries: China, Japan and the United States From there, draw lessons

on state management for religious activities of Vietnam, including:

Firstly, there must be proper awareness and agreement on the Party and State's guidelines and policies in the new situation

Secondly, there must be a plan and strategy for the state management of religious activities in line with each locality

Thirdly, the organization of the apparatus and the contingent of religious workers ensure both quantity and quality

Fourthly, the coordination between the agencies and agencies in the mobilization of mass followers must be associated with the work of economic, cultural and social development for the people, especially in the areas of people with religion

Fifthly, dealing with religious situations must be conducted through mass mobilization and enlistment of religious cadres Promptly praising positive followers and simultaneously resolving the law firmly against illegal religious activities