Aspects of procedural democracy have been celebrated and evident in Vietnam since independence from French colonial rule in 1945. Indeed, the name of the newly independent country was the "Democratic Republic of Vietnam (DRV), and its declaration of independence rebuked French rule for having "deprived our people of every democratic liberty" The author of this foundation document was Ho Chi Minh, who had often elaborated in his writings that those deprived liberties included freedom of the press, freedom of speech, freedom of assembly, and freedom of association. The first Constitution of the DRV states. Vietnamese citizens have the right to freedom to speak, to publish, to organize and associate, to religious beliefs, and to move within and outside the country" (Hien Phap, 1946, article 10).Similar provisions appear in subsequent constitutions, including the most recent (Hién phap, 2013, articles 23.24, 25)