Sense making of policy processes in the transition economy of Vietnam
| Published date | 01 October 2018 |
| Author | Cuong Vu,Canh Q. Le,Hung V. Nguyen,Thang V. Nguyen |
| DOI | http://doi.org/10.1002/pad.1839 |
| Date | 01 October 2018 |
RESEARCH ARTICLE
Sense making of policy processes in the transition economy of
Vietnam
Thang V. Nguyen
1
|Hung V. Nguyen
2
|Cuong Vu
3
|Canh Q. Le
1
1
Asia‐Pacific Institute of Management,
National Economics University, Hanoi,
Vietnam
2
Institute for Population and Social Studies,
National Economics University, Hanoi,
Vietnam
3
Faculty of Development Economics and
Planning, National Economics University,
Hanoi, Vietnam
Correspondence
T. V. Nguyen, Asia‐Pacific Institute of
Management, National Economics University,
Hanoi, Vietnam.
Email: nguyenvanthang@neu.edu.vn
Summary
This paper addresses the question of how reform policies come into existence in tran-
sition economies, in which democratic market institutions are in nascent stages. Data
from two case studies in Vietnam suggest that the evolution of reform policies in tran-
sition economies involves significant sense‐making processes, rather than problem
solving, and that sense making alters stakeholders' foundations for learning and power
influence in policymaking. In the end, stakeholders' acceptance of identity changes is
needed for a reform policy to be realized. This study offers important research and
policy implications, and such issues as identity redefinition in the policy process war-
rant further study.
KEYWORDS
identity change, policy process, sense making, Vietnam
1|INTRODUCTION
How policies are developed and evolve has long been a research topic
in the field of public policy and administration. The consensus appears
to be that policies evolve in cycles with distinct stages (Jann &
Wegrich, 2007; Lasswell, 1956), that policy development is a process
of balancing the power among related stakeholders (Holyoke, Henig,
Brown, & Lacireno‐Paquet, 2009; Weible, Heikkila, deLeon, &
Sabatier, 2012), and that it is a process of learning (Grin & Loeber,
2007). This approach tends to view policy development as a method
for solving societal problems, in which stakeholders act rationally
and deliberately to influence policies. Other scholars have acknowl-
edged people's bounded rationality in policymaking (Simon, 1957)
and/or have viewed policymaking as a chaotic process (Hudson &
Lowe, 2009), whereas most seem to have recognized that participa-
tion and critiques from various stakeholders become critical factors
for improving the quality of policies (Fung & Wright, 2001). For such
broad‐based and inclusive participation to be effective, democratic
market institutions should be in place (Baiocchi, 2003).
However, reform policies introduced in transition economies,
such as China (Kolko, 2001) and Vietnam (Riedel, 2015), present a puz-
zle for theorizing about the policy process. The two countries have
attempted to retain two incompatible ideologies—the market and
socialism—in their renovations (Dong, Christensen, & Painter, 2010;
Nguyen, Le, Tran, & Bryant, 2015). The one‐party‐led regimes in these
countries do not support the development of democratic institutions,
an unconstrained press, or a vibrant civil society. In these contexts,
the birth of reform policies might undergo different processes from
those commonly observed in more advanced countries.
How do reform policies evolve in the absence of democratic mar-
ket institutions? We address this question by studying in depth the
formulation processes of two reform policies in Vietnam, namely,
Granting Autonomy to Public Service Delivery Units (hereafter, the
Autonomy Policy) and the New Rural Development Programme (here-
after, NRD). Reform policies aim to change fundamental approaches to
public management. Such policies are enacted under conditions of
extreme uncertainty, and once enacted, they can alter the roles and
values of the policymaking agencies themselves (Holyoke et al.,
2009). In this respect, Vietnam offers an ideal setting for examining
the processes of introducing such policies. This study provides valu-
able insights into how the literature on policy processes could be
adapted and extended to explain the development of reform policies
in incipient market economies.
Our paper contributes to the literature in several ways. First, while
we concur that policy evolves through cycles, our model explicitly
describes the sense‐making process and places identity reconstruction
as a key success factor. Our model highlights the more informal pro-
cess of radically new policies in transition economies and argues that
Received: 31 May 2017 Revised: 5 August 2018 Accepted: 7 September 2018
DOI: 10.1002/pad.1839
154 © 2018 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. Public Admin Dev. 2018;38:154–165.wileyonlinelibrary.com/journal/pad
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