Grassroots Democracy as a Social Base for Pro-poor Outcomes in Vietnam

Abstract

Vietnams political system as a party-state regime remains largely intact, but not without subtle changes. It has evolved into one with more competitive elections, more effective checks and balances, greater decentralization, and more grassroots participation. What real outcomes, if any, have these changes toward greater democracy brought to Vietnam? One of the areas where those effects can be felt most is inclusive social policy such as public health and education provisions and redistributive tax and transfer policy. Indeed, Vietnam has succeeded in eradicating poverty and keeping inequality low, which can be attributed to its relatively open, plural, inclusive, and participatory nature. Against this backdrop, the purpose of this chapter is to identify one possible channel through which Vietnams political system with such characteristics leads to pro-poor policy outcomes. Specifically, I ask if and how citizens engagement in public affairs at grassroots levels shape their preferences for the governments redistributive policy, thereby laying a social basis for pro-poor outcomes. The statistical analysis of a national survey shows that the degree to which citizens engage in public affairs at local levels prove strongly significant in explaining the variation in their willingness to pay for the poor in Vietnam.