Reviewing the literature and analysing available statistical data on the relative proportion of men and women in the political system, this paper highlights the positions occupied and the tasks performed by male and female members of the Communist Party, the National Assembly, and People’s Committees and People’s Councils at different levels. | Position and Decision-making Power of Men and Women in Vietnam’s Political System Tran Thi Hong* Abstract: Women’s political participation is one important measure of women’s rights. The National Strategy on Gender Equality for the 2011 – 2020 period was set up with the goal of “strengthening women’s participation in leadership and management in order to reduce the gender gap in the political sphere”. Reviewing the literature and analysing available statistical data on the relative proportion of men and women in the political system, this paper highlights the positions occupied and the tasks performed by male and female members of the Communist Party, the National Assembly, and People’s Committees and People’s Councils at different levels. According to our analysis, women make up a very small proportion of the political system, compared to men. Most of those women do not hold key positions and are responsible for tasks of less strategic importance. They have a voice in the political system, but they do not have much real decisionmaking power. Key words: Women; men; equality; political participation; position; decisionmaking power. 1. Introduction In Vietnam, the Party and the State always pay attention to women’s liberation and gender equality. Many specific policies and legal documents relating to gender equality have been promulgated, aiming at promoting women’s participation in leadership and management. Some of them can be enumerated here, such as: the 2007 Law on Gender Equality, the national strategy on gender equality for the 20112020 period, the national programme on gender equality for the 2011 – 2015 and 2016 – 2020 periods, etc. As a result, Vietnam has gained certain achievements in ensuring gender equality in the political 12 system. Over the past two decades, there has always been a woman holding the position of Vice President of Vietnam. The proportion of women who are high-ranking leaders in the State apparatus has also increased. The number of .
