This document summarizes governance, development, and the responsive-repressive state in Vietnam. It discusses how the Communist Party dominates the government but that the system allows some citizen participation through official organizations. It describes how citizens have conveyed views to authorities through everyday issues, public contests, and lawful channels, and how the government has responded through both responsiveness and repression depending on the situation. The document also outlines debates among critics over whether struggles should engage with or confront authorities, and whether development or democratization should come first in Vietnam's system.