VIỆT NAM
— Officially: Cộng Ḥa Xă Hội Chủ Nghĩa Việt Nam.
— English: Vietnam.
— Seat of government: Hà Nội.
— Status: Not democratic.
— Structure: One-party state. Governed by the Bộ Chính Trị, chosen by the Ban Chấp Hành Trung Ương, ostensibly chosen by the Đại Hội Đại Biểu Toàn Quốc. Most policy decisions are taken at the level of the Bộ Chính Trị, but ultimate power at present may lie with the Ban Chấp Hành Trung Ương.
— Governing party: Đảng Cộng Sản Việt Nam.
— Heads of government: Nguyễn Phú Trọng, general secretary; Trương Tấn Sang, first-ranked member of the Bộ Chính Trị and president; Nguyễn Tấn Dũng, prime minister.
— Assessment: One of the slowest of the eastern bloc states to liberalize. The party has ruled in parts of the north since the end of occupation by 日本 « Nitu-pon » in 1945, and the entire recognized territory since the fall of the Việt Nam Cộng Ḥa (Nam Việt Nam) in 1975. Hồ Chí Minh (1945-69) was the autocratic head of government from its inception. With Hồ Chí Minh frail in his last years, Lê Duẩn assumed informal power, and governed autocratically after 1969 until his own death in 1986. Decision-making is now more collective. Has recently begun the process of holding show elections (2007, 2011) in which the régime claimed improbable turnout and improbable margins.
— FH: 7-5, not free. Econ: 2.53 (149), authoritarian.
— Updated: 2015 March 25.
O.T. FORD