Conventional wisdom emerging from China and other autocracies
claims that single-party legislatures and elections are mutually
beneficial for citizens and autocrats. This line of thought reasons
that these institutions can serve multiple functions, like
constraining political leaders or providing information about
citizens. In United Front, Paul Schuler challenges these views
through his examination of the past and present functioning of the
Vietnam National Assembly (VNA), arguing that the legislature's
primary role is to signal strength to the public. When active, the
critical behavior from delegates in the legislature represents
cross fire within the regime rather than genuine citizen feedback.
In making these arguments, Schuler counters a growing scholarly
trend to see democratic institutions within single-party settings
like China and Vietnam as useful for citizens or regime
performance. His argument also suggests that there are limits to
generating genuinely "consultative authoritarianism" through
quasi-democratic institutions. Applying a diverse range of
cutting-edge social science methods on a wealth of original data
such as legislative speeches, election returns, and surveys,
Schuler shows that even in a seemingly vociferous legislature like
the VNA, the ultimate purpose of the institution is not to reflect
the views of citizens, but rather to signal the regime's
preferences while taking down rivals.
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