Value survey shows high assessment of democracy and human rights
Nhandan.org.vn, August 2, 2003
Statistics from value surveys show that the people of Vietnamese highly value democracy and human rights in Vietnam. Professor, Academician Pham Minh Hac, head of the National Centre for Social Sciences and Humanities’ Institute for Human Study, writes.
1. Since 1991, the State-level scientific and technological programme KX-07 entitled ‘The human is the objective and motive force for socio-economic development,’ has started to survey value in term of value system, value scale, value measure and value orientations. In 2000-2001, the National Centre for Social Sciences and Humanities’ Institute for Human Studies took part in the World Value Survey (WVS) which has been carried out in 96 countries and territories under unified forms and calculation methods. Some initial results were announced by Vietnamese and US researchers at the International Meeting on World Value Survey held in South Africa in October 2001 and published in the US’s International Journal of Comparative Sociology and Vietnam’s Human Studies Magazine.
On the basis of these announced data, this article focuses on the issues of democracy and human rights in Vietnam which are among global issues like peace, environment, etc, that attract the interests of readers.
In Vietnam, the people have really enjoyed democracy and human rights since 1945, after gaining independence and especially all over the country after April 30, 1975 when the country was reunified and the power was won by the people.
Democracy and human rights are closely related with liberating the nation from the semi-feudal colonial system, free from the domination of old and neo-colonialism.
Opening the Independence Declaration on September 2, 1945, President Ho Chi Minh quoted from the Declaration of Independence of the United States of America in 1776: "All men are created equal. They are endowed by their Creator with certain inalienable rights, among these are Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness."
The Constitution of the Democratic Republic of Vietnam in 1946 is called a democratic constitution for national independence, freedom and happiness.
Vietnam has started the cause of renovation since 1986. The amended Constitution in this period (1992) defined: "In the Socialist Republic of Vietnam, political, civilian, economic, cultural and social human rights are respected (Article 50)." This has created a legal basis for the implementation of democracy. The Communist Party of Vietnam’s Central Committee’s Politburo’s Instruction No 30-CT/TW on February 18, 1998 on the building and implementation of democratic regulations at grassroots level clearly stipulates: "Expanding socialist democracy, bringing into full play the mastery of the people are the objectives and the motive force to ensure the success of the revolution and the cause of renovation."
The government of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam has promulgated three decrees (Decree No 29 in 1998; Decree No 71 in 1998 and Decree No 7 in 1999) on the Democratic Regulations to be carried out at communes, precincts, public agencies, State-owned businesses, under the standards of a modern democratic society which are: the competitiveness of power, the participation of the people and the responsibility of the power strength, according to UNDP Human Development Report 2002.
2. Everybody agrees that democracy and human rights are not only simply achieved by changes in institutions or the management of authoritative bodies. Economic development is the most important condition for the implementation of democracy and human rights. Here, I mention one basic human right, which is the right to live in a politically stable society.
According to statistics provided by the General Statistics Office in 2002, during the past ten years the practical living standards of the people have increased, on average, twice to three times. The UNDP Human Development Report 2003 made public recently also recognises that Vietnam has made outstanding progress in poverty reduction, human development and life quality in the past decade. Vietnam’s human development indicator (HDI) remains at 0.688, ranking 109th out of 175 countries. With regards to education development indicators, in the feudal colonial system, only 5% of the population knew how to read and write. Now the figure is 94%. This is one of the most important rights of the people. With regards to poverty indicators, Vietnam’s poverty rate has reduced sharply from over 70% in mid-80s to around 29%in 2002, ranking 39th out of 94 countries. Vietnam’s gender development indicator (GDI) was 0.687, ranking 89th out of 144 countries and is also the country with the best GDI in the region (the rate of women National Assembly deputies is 27.3%, the highest in the region).
These indicators show Vietnam’s policy on economic development going along with care for settlement of social issues, particularly social equality with culture and humans as the highest goals to achieve a really democratic policy. The above-mentioned results are due to many factors, in which the most important one is the decision to shift to the socialist oriented market economy. Another factor is the promulgation of policies to liberate the potentials of the people, of the community, and dealing more reasonably the interests of citizens and the community, the rights and obligations of citizens living under the a jurisdiction of a State of the people, by the people and for the people. These are the basic conditions of a society with a real democratic political regime which exists in Vietnam, a truth that is as clear as broad daylight.
Thus, the World Value Survey 2001 shows that the people place their high belief in democratic values. The people strongly support the social democratisation which is shown in their support to put "democracy" into national goals: prosperous people, strong country, a just, democratic and civilised society (defined in the Resolution of the ninth national Party Congress, in 2001). As many as 96.5% of the interviewees said they are satisfied with the country’s democratic goal. Their own lives have given them that belief which is further supported by Vietnam’s culture and civilisation on the spiritual foundation of community-family-village-country, in a spirit of democracy and unity among different ethnic groups to co-exist, build and defend the country, a culture and civilisation that is widely recognised by international historians.
Value survey shows high assessment of democracy and human rights in Vietnam
Statistics from value surveys show that the people of Vietnamese highly value democracy and human rights in Vietnam. Professor, Academician Pham Minh Hac, head of the National Centre for Social Sciences and Humanities’ Institute for Human Studies, writes.
1. Since 1991, the State-level scientific and technological programme KX-07 entitled ‘The human is the objective and motive force for socio-economic development,’ has started to survey value in term of value system, value scale, value measure and value orientations. In 2000-2001, the National Centre for Social Sciences and Humanities’ Institute for Human Studies took part in the World Value Survey (WVS) which has been carried out in 96 countries and territories under unified forms and calculation methods. Some initial results were announced by Vietnamese and US researchers at the International Meeting on World Value Survey held in South Africa in October 2001 and published in the US’s International Journal of Comparative Sociology and Vietnam’s Human Studies Magazine.
On the basis of these announced data, this article focuses on the issues of democracy and human rights in Vietnam which are among global issues like peace, environment, etc, that attract the interests of readers.
In Vietnam, the people have really enjoyed democracy and human rights since 1945, after gaining independence and especially all over the country after April 30, 1975 when the country was reunified and the power was won by the people.
Democracy and human rights are closely related with liberating the nation from the semi-feudal colonial system, free from the domination of old and neo-colonialism.
Opening the Independence Declaration on September 2, 1945, President Ho Chi Minh quoted from the Declaration of Independence of the United States of America in 1776: "All men are created equal. They are endowed by their Creator with certain inalienable rights, among these are Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness."
The Constitution of the Democratic Republic of Vietnam in 1946 is called a democratic constitution for national independence, freedom and happiness.
Vietnam has started the cause of renovation since 1986. The amended Constitution in this period (1992) defined: "In the Socialist Republic of Vietnam, political, civilian, economic, cultural and social human rights are respected (Article 50)." This has created a legal basis for the implementation of democracy. The Communist Party of Vietnam’s Central Committee’s Politburo’s Instruction No 30-CT/TW on February 18, 1998 on the building and implementation of democratic regulations at grassroots level clearly stipulates: "Expanding socialist democracy, bringing into full play the mastery of the people are the objectives and the motive force to ensure the success of the revolution and the cause of renovation."
The government of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam has promulgated three decrees (Decree No 29 in 1998; Decree No 71 in 1998 and Decree No 7 in 1999) on the Democratic Regulations to be carried out at communes, precincts, public agencies, State-owned businesses, under the standards of a modern democratic society which are: the competitiveness of power, the participation of the people and the responsibility of the power strength, according to UNDP Human Development Report 2002.
2. Everybody agrees that democracy and human rights are not only simply achieved by changes in institutions or the management of authoritative bodies. Economic development is the most important condition for the implementation of democracy and human rights. Here, I mention one basic human right, which is the right to live in a politically stable society.
According to statistics provided by the General Statistics Office in 2002, during the past ten years the practical living standards of the people have increased, on average, twice to three times. The UNDP Human Development Report 2003 made public recently also recognises that Vietnam has made outstanding progress in poverty reduction, human development and life quality in the past decade. Vietnam’s human development indicator (HDI) remains at 0.688, ranking 109th out of 175 countries. With regards to education development indicators, in the feudal colonial system, only 5% of the population knew how to read and write. Now the figure is 94%. This is one of the most important rights of the people. With regards to poverty indicators, Vietnam’s poverty rate has reduced sharply from over 70% in mid-80s to around 29%in 2002, ranking 39th out of 94 countries. Vietnam’s gender development indicator (GDI) was 0.687, ranking 89th out of 144 countries and is also the country with the best GDI in the region (the rate of women National Assembly deputies is 27.3%, the highest in the region).
These indicators show Vietnam’s policy on economic development going along with care for settlement of social issues, particularly social equality with culture and humans as the highest goals to achieve a really democratic policy. The above-mentioned results are due to many factors, in which the most important one is the decision to shift to the socialist oriented market economy. Another factor is the promulgation of policies to liberate the potentials of the people, of the community, and dealing more reasonably the interests of citizens and the community, the rights and obligations of citizens living under the a jurisdiction of a State of the people, by the people and for the people. These are the basic conditions of a society with a real democratic political regime which exists in Vietnam, a truth that is as clear as broad daylight.
Thus, the World Value Survey 2001 shows that the people place their high belief in democratic values. The people strongly support the social democratisation which is shown in their support to put "democracy" into national goals: prosperous people, strong country, a just, democratic and civilised society (defined in the Resolution of the ninth national Party Congress, in 2001). As many as 96.5% of the interviewees said they are satisfied with the country’s democratic goal. Their own lives have given them that belief which is further supported by Vietnam’s culture and civilisation on the spiritual foundation of community-family-village-country, in a spirit of democracy and unity among different ethnic groups to co-exist, build and defend the country, a culture and civilisation that is widely recognised by international historians.
3. Following is the analysis and comparison in the attitude of Vietnamese people towards democracy with that of the peoples in eastern Asia (China, Japan) and North America (the United States, Canada). The illustrations are taken from data released in the World Value Survey carried out in Vietnam and the same surveys in the above-said countries in 2001.
3a. The attitude towards democratic political institutions:
Valuing the role of the democratic political institutions, peoples in different countries have different attitudes. Those interviewees in Vietnam highly value the democratic political system: as many as 68.9% of them said that the democratic political system was very good and 36.6% of them said that the system was rather good. Thus, in Vietnam, a total of 95.5% of the respondents considered that the democratic political system held an active role. The figure in Japan was 91.9%; Canada, 88.7%; the United States, 88.5% and China, 73.3%. It is the close unity and combined efforts for generations now, especially during the past half a century, to win the survival for each Vietnamese people, each family, each ethnic group in a united and independent Vietnam that has awakened the Vietnamese people’s sense of human rights and, in reality, to implement human rights associated to a democratic political system. This is an undeniable fact.
Of course, the people still want the democratic political system to be better. For example, as many as 30.1% of the interviewees said that they wanted the democratic political system to be more decisive (this figure in China was 35%; the United States, 39.2%; Japan, 43.3%; and Canada, 50%). Another example was: when asked about the objectives in national development that should be given top priority, Vietnamese respondents considered the most important goal of the country was "a high level of economic growth," while the aim of "seeing that people have more say about how things are done at their jobs and in their communities" was ranked equally with other aims of "trying to make our cities and countryside more beautiful" and "making sure the country has strong defence forces." In China, the goal of "trying to make our cities and countryside more beautiful" was listed at the bottom while "making sure the country has strong defence forces" is ranked right behind the goal of "a high level of economic growth." In Japan, the United States and Canada, the goal of "seeing that people have more say about how things are done at their jobs and in their communities" was listed after the goal of "a high level of economic growth." The difference in the attitudes of the people in these countries with the peoples in Vietnam and China is that the people in Japan, the US and Canada highly valued the goal of increasing the participation of the people in social management. Thus, the peoples in Vietnam and China have not highly valued the participation of the people in the work of national and community management like in the three above-mentioned countries. Nevertheless, in general, in every country today, especially in those countries that the people have high educational standards, the people all want to take part in the work of national management. Social democratisation has become a global issue, be it in the United States or Vietnam.
3b. The respect for individual human rights
Speaking about the respect for individual rights as an indicator of human rights, many respondents in Vietnam said that their individual rights are much respected. According to four levels: "A lot of respect for individual human rights," "Some respect," "Not much respect," and "Not respect at all ," most of the respondents in Vietnam, China, Japan, the United States and Canada chose "A lot of respect" and "Some respect." (Table 1)
Table 1: The rate of respect for individual human rights (% of the respondents)
Vietnam
A lot of respect: 61.9
Some respect: 33.2
Not much respect: 4.5
Not respect at all: 0.4
Total: 100
China
A lot of respect: 32.2
Some respect: 55.5
Not much respect: 11.3
Not respect at all: 1.0
Total: 100
Japan
A lot of respect: 3.8
Some respect: 58.5
Not much respect: 34.3
Not respect at all: 3.4
Total: 100
The US
A lot of respect: 16.5
Some respect: 57.5
Not much respect: 21.8
Not respect at all: 4.2
Totoal: 100
Canada
A lot of respect: 29.7
Some respect: 54.8
Not much respect: 13.4
Not respect at all: 2.1
Totoal: 100
Thus, as many as 95.1% of the respondents in Vietnam recognised that their individual rights are respected. Of course, rights go along with responsibilities. Those who violate law must be punished. Only then can national sovereignty, political stability and social security be ensured.
3c. Rights to freedom of religious belief
Whoever comes to Vietnam recognises that this is a country maintained by law and rights to freedom of religious belief are respected, as defined in Article 70 of the Constitution 1992. In Vietnam, there are about 20 million religious followers (accounting for 25% of the population) but almost 100% of the population keeps the tradition of worshipping their ancestors which is also considered as a religion. The WVS questionnaire gives the value of God, religion, work, family, friends, entertainment and asks the respondents to mark which one is the most important value. The results show that the value of "family" tops with 82.11%; following by "work," 56.8%; "friends," 21.8%; "religion," 10% and "entertainment," 7.4%. These figures are lively and honest illustrations of how freedom of religious belief is respected in Vietnam. Those who take unfair advantages of religious belief to commit legal violations will be punished and the people support that punishment as only then they can be able to live in peace. That is reasonable, just and any country must do this.
The above-mentioned data was collected and analysed according to a scientific method which is being widely used around the world, ensuring a high reliability and accuracy and reflecting, in an objective manner, the reality of the before-mentioned issue. After considering these results, scientists said that they were in conformity with reality which has been changing in a positive way during the years of renovation in Vietnam. It is also shown that the socio-economic development in Vietnam has received strong appreciation and support from the domestic and foreign public opinion. The society in Vietnam is becoming more and more democratic and human rights are better protected.
I wrote this article, when the US House of Representatives had newly adopted the Amendment to the Foreign Relations Authorisation Act for the 2004-2005 fiscal year, including some groundless additional provisions relating to Vietnam which received strong protests from many US politicians, diplomats, businessmen, charities and religious organisations, with the hope that the US political circle will have a scientific and objective consideration on the basis of equal co-operation and mutual benefit and reject any action or document threatening the development of Vietnam-US relations resulted from great efforts of both sides in recent years. Let us promote active dialogue on human rights and freedom of religion as well as labour, environment, science, technology and other issues as the US Ambassador to Vietnam Raymond R Burghardt said at a reception recently held in Hanoi in celebration of the US Independence Day.
