From Periphery to Centre: The Self-evolution of the Vietnamese Communist Party's Central Committee

The Central Committee (CC) of the Vietnamese Communist Party (VCP) is widely regarded as Vietnam's most important political institution. However, few studies have exclusively examined the development of the CC since the beginning of the Đổi mới (Renovation) era. Based on a new biographical dataset of 626 CC members from the 6th to the 12th National Congress of the VCP, as well as Party's internal documents, this article examines the institutional self-evolution of the CC in three key aspects: (1) its changing structure and composition; (2) its decision-making principles; and (3) its norms of elite promotion. In so doing, we argue that the CC has moved from the periphery to the centre of Vietnamese elite politics, resembling the role of a "shadow parliament" where major policies are deliberated and passed and where top leaders are chosen. The CC has achieved this position by developing and maintaining a considerably high level of intra-party democracy, expanding the selectorate by accommodating provincial elites and the National Assembly while greatly standardizing the norms of elite promotion. We also examine the impact of the CC's rising power on the factional dynamics by revisiting three main classifications of factionalism in Vietnam in light of the new biographical dataset. We argue that the failure to identify solid factional boundaries among Vietnamese political elites is the direct consequence of the CC's transformation since Đổi mới.