Mapping Vietnamese Government Structure
From markustaussig@mac.com Wed Aug 18 12:12:15 2004
Date: Fri, 6 Aug 2004 22:20:19 +0700
From: Markus Taussig <markustaussig@mac.com>
Reply-To: vsg@u.washington.edu
To: Vietnam Studies Group <vsg@u.washington.edu>
Subject: mapping Vietnamese government structure
Dear VSG colleagues,
I want to map the structure and relationships of Vietnamese government agencies, as they relate to the management of domestic enterprises in Vietnam. In particular, how national government relates to provincial government (and visa versa) and how each then relate to provincial and district levels (and visa versa). Seemed a simple idea at first, but has proved anything but. I had assumed that surely some basic map must exist out there (not specific to management of enterprises), but I've found pretty much nothing so far. Any suggestions? Of course, to complicate it all, there is some variety across provinces, too.
And to make the job harder, I'm hardly an expert on creating these sorts of graphs. Anyhow, I've started to draft this out and am attaching a jpg file created in Microsoft's Viso, in case anyone out there is interested and could help me with thinking this through. Though I'm also still holding out hope that one of you will be able to tell me about a pre-existing graph that will serve as a basis for my enterprise management graph.
Markus
_______________________________
Markus D. Taussig
Private Sector Development Research
Mobile: (84) 903 25 8774
markustaussig@mac.com
http://homepage.mac.com/markustaussig/
From wfz@isciences.com Wed Aug 18 12:12:22 2004
Date: Fri, 6 Aug 2004 11:36:29 -0400
From: W. F. Zimmerman <wfz@isciences.com>
Reply-To: vsg@u.washington.edu
To: Vietnam Studies Group <vsg@u.washington.edu>
Subject: RE: mapping Vietnamese government structure
The traditional visual view of government is a series of hierarchies, but it may be better to think of it as clusters of networks. It might be worth investigating the world of social network theory for some inspiration. There is an extensive recent (Internet-inspired) literature on how organizations and individuals connect to each other. Research has found that "connectors" or "hubs" can play a disproportionately important role in the functioning of networks. I suspect this is even more true in Viet Nam than it is in a country like the U.S. Sp you might want to take an approach of looking for the "connector" organizations and graphing around the hubs. If you'd like more info, let me know off-line.
W. F. Zimmerman
Research Scientist
ISciences, LLC
From markustaussig@mac.com Wed Aug 18 12:12:33 2004
Date: Sat, 7 Aug 2004 08:43:32 +0700
From: Markus Taussig <markustaussig@mac.com>
Reply-To: vsg@u.washington.edu
To: Vietnam Studies Group <vsg@u.washington.edu>
Subject: Re: mapping Vietnamese government structure
Thanks, Markus and W.F., for your notes. I am definitely interested in the software and organization issues, but I'm actually even more interested in any already existing efforts to map the Vietnamese government structure. This involves someone trying to list out all of the existing agencies from national to ward levels and trying to give some indication of who is whose boss within that system (i.e. showing DPI's connection to both MPI and to PC).
_______________________________
Markus D. Taussig
Private Sector Development Research
Mobile: (84) 903 25 8774
markustaussig@mac.com
http://homepage.mac.com/markustaussig/
On Aug 7, 2004, at 1:00 AM, Markus Vorpahl wrote:
From jmdelane@yahoo.ca Wed Aug 18 12:12:36 2004
Date: Sat, 7 Aug 2004 13:58:00 +0700
From: Jim Delaney <jmdelane@yahoo.ca>
Reply-To: vsg@u.washington.edu
To: Vietnam Studies Group <vsg@u.washington.edu>
Subject: RE: mapping Vietnamese government structure
Markus: I have semi-official maps of District and Commune hierarchies in Nghe An, but have been having trouble getting anybody to commit to describing line management relationships with the province, as these seems hazy at best. I can scan and send them on if you would like - not much information of relevance to domestic enterprises though.
Jim Delaney
From m.digregorio@fordfound.org Wed Aug 18 12:12:43 2004
Date: Sat, 07 Aug 2004 05:11:53 -0700
From: Michael DiGregorio <m.digregorio@fordfound.org>
Reply-To: vsg@u.washington.edu
To: Vietnam Studies Group <vsg@u.washington.edu>
Subject: Government structure
Dear Markus
I am surpised to see two line agencies missing from your chart.
The Government Office, which is instrumental in researching and drafting laws, resolutions and decrees. Etc
And the Office of Home Affairs, which, as Vietnam's Civil Service Administration, is responsible for staffing and regulating the state bureaucracy.
For some, these two agencies constitute "the government" of Vietnam.
Mike
From markustaussig@mac.com Wed Aug 18 12:12:46 2004
Date: Sat, 7 Aug 2004 22:48:38 +0700
From: Markus Taussig <markustaussig@mac.com>
Reply-To: vsg@u.washington.edu
To: Vietnam Studies Group <vsg@u.washington.edu>
Subject: Re: Government structure
Michael,
Those are definitely important. My attachment, I think, is far, far from complete. It's just a start and meant more to inspire those more knowledgeable about these things to advise me on how to really do this right. So I'm looking to get advice on the full range of line ministries, plus advice on how far down each goes. The Office of Government, for example: which district level office would it be most directly connected to? Ward level? It seems to me like the Office of Government actually might be a bit different (is it really what we would normally refer to as a line ministry?). I also don't know the answer to those questions for the Office of Home Affairs. Structure really seems to change at the ward level.
Would the Office of Government or Office of Home Affairs be likely to have the type of map of the Government I'm looking for? Anyone out there know anyone at either of those offices who could advise me?
Markus
_______________________________
Markus D. Taussig
Private Sector Development Research
Mobile: (84) 903 25 8774
markustaussig@mac.com
http://homepage.mac.com/markustaussig/
On Aug 7, 2004, at 7:11 PM, Michael DiGregorio wrote: