United Front: Projecting Solidarity through Deliberation in Vietnam's Single-Party Legislature

Conventional wisdom holds that single-party legislatures and elections benefit citizens and autocrats, but Paul Schuler's research shows that the Vietnam National Assembly's primary role is to signal strength to the public, rather than reflect citizen views. He argues that quasi-democratic institutions have limits in generating genuinely consultative authoritarianism.

Format: Paperback / softback
Length: 272 pages
Publication date: 12 January 2021
Publisher: Stanford University Press

Conventional wisdom holds that single-party legislatures and elections are mutually beneficial for citizens and autocrats, as they can serve multiple functions such as constraining political leaders or providing information about citizens. However, Paul Schuler challenges these views in his book "United Front." Through an examination of the past and present functioning of the Vietnam National Assembly (VNA), Schuler argues that the legislature's primary role is to signal strength to the public rather than to reflect the views of citizens.

When the legislature is active, the critical behavior of delegates represents crossfire within the regime rather than genuine citizen feedback. Schuler counters a growing scholarly trend that sees democratic institutions within single-party settings as useful for citizens or regime performance.

His argument suggests that there are limits to generating genuinely consultative authoritarianism through quasi-democratic institutions. Schuler applies a diverse range of cutting-edge social science methods on a wealth of original data, such as legislative speeches, election returns, and surveys, to demonstrate that even in a seemingly vociferous legislature like the VNA, the ultimate purpose of the institution is not to reflect the views of citizens but rather to signal the regime's preferences while taking down rivals.

This book provides a valuable insight into the functioning of single-party legislatures and elections in autocracies, and challenges the notion that these institutions are inherently beneficial for citizens. It is a must-read for anyone interested in understanding the dynamics of political power in authoritarian regimes.

Weight: 426g
Dimension: 152 x 229 x 20 (mm)
ISBN-13: 9781503614741