Public participation in the management of local government in Vietnam : a case study of public participation in the process of making provincial laws in Dong Nai Province

Abstract

Public participation in the process of making laws is an essential element of ―participatory democracy—the right of people to participate in political processes and also to ensure the effectiveness of local government regulations at the stage of implementation. Public participation has been conducted effectively in a number of developed countries around the world. However, it is only at an incipient stage in Vietnam. This research investigates and evaluates the level and effectiveness of public participation in the process of making laws in Dong Nai Province, Vietnam, in light of practice and theory in overseas jurisdictions. It also aims to make recommendations for improvement in Dong Nai Province based on the findings of the research. In order to carry out these tasks, a combination of documentary and empirical research will be employed. The documentary research will help to analyse and evaluate case studies in public participation. The empirical research will entail qualitative and quantitative methods such as interviews and questionnaires to analyse and evaluate engagement, satisfaction, and effectiveness of public participation in provincial law-making. The results of the research reveal that the level and effectiveness of public participation in the process of making provincial laws in Vietnam is still poor and its approach to public participation in law-making is in danger of becoming perfunctory if it does not start facilitating a positive cycle toward public participation. The conclusion can also be drawn that if Vietnam learns from overseas examples to instigate a positive cycle in the process of soliciting public participation, it has significant potential to employ public participation to genuinely enhance the quality of local governance and the rule of law, and the effectiveness of local laws.

Date of Award	2015
Original language	English
Supervisor	Trevor O RYAN (Supervisor), Don Fleming (Supervisor) & Lawrence Pratchett (Supervisor)