Includes bibliographical references (p. [213]-216) and index.

Key themes in Vietnam's constitutions and constitutional debates -- The 1946 constitution : a charter for independence and unity -- The 1959 constitution : a charter for socialism in the North -- The 1980 constitution : a charter for reunification under socialism -- The 1992 constitution : a charter for renovation (doi moi) -- Revising the 1992 constitution : debates and decisions after fifteen years of renovation (doi moi) -- Implementing constitutional guarantees : the problem of associational rights -- The problem of judicial independence in a party-dominated state -- Enforcing the constitution : the debate over 'constitutional protection' and a constitutional court -- Afterword : the future of the Vietnamese constitution.