Provincial System of Government

Vietnam is divided into fifty-nine provinces and five municipalities (cities that have the same standing as provinces). The map below shows the provinces, and the cities are as follows: Can Tho, Da Nang, Hanoi, Hai Phong, and Ho Chi Minh City. The sixty-four areas are governed by People's Councils, which are essentially smaller versions of the National Assembly.

Government's Relation to the People

The Communist Party of Vietnam says that they’re all about the people of Vietnam. They’re supposed to be “the vanguard of the working people and the entire nation, representing the interests of the working class and the nation.” The party’s aim is ideally to make Vietnam a “strong, independent, prosperous and democratic country with an equitable and civilized society.” They are saying they want all of the people to be equal, but it doesn’t really work because Vietnam is not really a democracy. They have elections, but there is only one party to choose from. I think that the principles of the Vietnamese Government and of the Communist Party of Vietnam are a little unrealistic. The party is said to “make great efforts to maintain its close relationship with the people”, but the article that makes that statement (last link found above) does not fully explain what those efforts are. In reality, the government is stable but the people of Vietnam do not actually have much of a choice concerning politics.