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Political Elite in Contemporary Vietnam: The Origin and Evolution of the Dominant Stratum
Author(s) -
Ishizuka Futaba
Publication year - 2020
Publication title -
the developing economies
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.305
H-Index - 30
eISSN - 1746-1049
pISSN - 0012-1533
DOI - 10.1111/deve.12255
Subject(s) - elite , nepotism , dominance (genetics) , politics , language change , state (computer science) , political economy , power (physics) , position (finance) , political science , monopoly , socialist market economy , political system , economic system , market economy , economics , law , democracy , china , art , biochemistry , chemistry , physics , literature , finance , algorithm , quantum mechanics , computer science , gene
Michael Voslensky's concept of nomenklatura has three main features: comprehensive state authority, monopoly of wealth, and a hierarchical personnel system. Such features were found in party‐state leaders in pre‐reform Vietnam. In the doi moi period, the environment in which party‐state leaders operate has changed greatly, but ambiguities remain under the names of the socialist‐oriented market economy and socialist law‐governed state. With the party‐state personnel system essentially unchanged from the pre‐reform period, party‐state leaders have taken advantage of the ambiguous nature of such reforms and consolidated their dominant position in society through acts of corruption and nepotism. The intensive anti‐corruption drive by the 12th tenure party leadership dealt a blow to those who committed such deviations. Nevertheless, it did not fundamentally change the situation of political elite dominance, as it aimed to strengthen the concentration of decision‐making power and added more requirements for would‐be officeholders.