Public Governance

Lecture 1. Introduction

- Overall introduction

- Course requirements

Required Readings:

1. Daron Acemoglu, What makes a country rich? MIT (2009)

2. Tony Bovaird & Elke Löffler, Chapter 1.

Lecture 2. Concept Of Public Governance, Formal and Informal Institutions

- Public Governance vs. State Management

- The Cores of Public Governance

Required Readings:

1. Tony Bovaird & Elke Löffler, Chapter 13, 15.

Lecture 3. Government's functions: Relationship between Public Governance and Development

- Requirements of good governance

- Measurement of Public Governance Quality

- Relationship between Public Governance and sustainable development

Required Readings:

Fukuyama (2004), Chapter 1.

Lecture 4. Issues of Importing Modern Institutions

- Overview of Institution Importation

- Conditions for Successful Transplantation of Institution

Required Readings:

1. Fukuyama (2004), Chapter 2

Optional readings:

1. Born red (2015).

Lecture 5. Democracy, Mandate and Functions of People Representative Bodies

- Legitimacy of Government

- Overview of representative democracy

- Legislative power

- Functions of people elected bodies

Required Readings:

1. Nguyễn Sĩ Dũng (2010), Representative role: Maintaining the lifeline with voters.

Lecture 6. Determinants of Central Government Accountability

- Accountability perspectives

- Perspective of effective and efficient government

- Administration, civil servant and bureaucracy

Required Readings:

- Phạm Duy Nghĩa (2014): Accountability.

Lecture 7. Determinants of Local Government Accountability

- Overview of local and regional governments

- Delegation and decentralization

Required Readings:

1. Nguyễn Cửu Việt & Trương Đắc Linh (2011), Constitutional Amendment from the perspective of strategy of management decentralization.

Lecture 8. Government resources management

- Budgeting: policy analysis point of view

- Management of enterprises with state capital

- Public procurement

Required Readings:

1. Discussion: People participation in budget process.

Lecture 9. Policy Toward Public Officials and Civil Servants

- Public officials and civil servants: Overview of right and obligations

- Recruitment, assessment, and training

Required Readings:

1. ADB (2003), Chapters 10-12

2. Law on Cadres and civl servants (2009), Law on Public officials (2011)

3. Article: "Ward cadres as numerous as...Yuan troops".

Lecture 10. Overview of Public Participation

- Concept and overview of public participation channels in government operation

- Promoting cooperation

- Social critical feedbacks by Fatherland Front

Required Readings:

1. ADB (2003), Chapters 13-14

2. Oxfam (2012), Enhancing community voice for correct selection.

Lecture 11. Monitoring Government by People Representative Bodies

- Constituency, public elected agency and its monitoring activities

- Effectiveness and legal consequences of public elected agency monitoring

Required Readings:

1. British Embassy & MEC (2013), Response level of public agencies to individual and organizational complaints, criticism and proposals, Research report.

Lecture 12. Civil Society and NGOs

- Civil society notion

- Draft law on association: current situation in Vietnam

- Case study: Vụ án Đoàn Văn Vươn

Required Readings:

1. ADB (2003), Chapter 15

2. Cao Huy Thuần (2004), Civil Society

3. Case study: Doan Van Vuon.

Lecture 13. Enterprises and Government: The role of business association to policy-making process

Required readings:

1. David Baron, Business and its Environment, Stanford University (2010), Introduction (Overview)

Optional readings:

1. CAMS (2011), Change in Vietnameses' reflection on the State and Market

2. Nguyen Quang A (2014), Central Highland Beauxite and the Ministry of Industry and Trade.

Lecture 14. Access to Information: Building a Transparent Government

- Demand for Information

- Right to access information of the public

- Government obligation toward information access

- Draft law on information access in Vietnam

Required readings:

1. Joseph Stiglitz (2006), Transpacrency in government, in World Bank, The right to tell: the role of mass media in economic development, Culture and Information Publishing House, pp. 33-55

2. ADB (2003) Chapter 16

3. Draft Law on information access.

Group 1: Presentations on grassroot democracy, public and business participation in local policies.

Group 2: Presentations on increasing business participation in government economic regulating policy

Group 3: Presentations on increasing transparent government, right to access informations of people, freedom of the press and monitoring government by people and civil society

Group 4: Presentations on measuring public governance performance, policy draft and recommendation to the public sector, performance of the public servants, and policies on preventing and fighting against corruption.