Conceptions of democracy and the issues of bulding a socialist democracy in Vietnam today

Abstract

Although democracy is a familiar concept, it still can be approached and interpreted in various ways. From a comparative perspective and a dialectical view, the paper believes that the concept of democracy in the East has commonalities and also differences with the that of democracy in the West. On that basis, Vietnam has been building a socialist democracy with an appropriate approach, selectively absorbing and harmoniously combining the theoretical quintessence of humanity, the Marxism – Leninism particulaly with the traditions and historical – cultural characteristics of our country.