Also in 1946, voters in most of the country elected representatives to district and subdistrict People's Councils (Marr, 2004, p. 42). During two wars, first against the French (1946- 54) and then against the United States (1961-75), many DRV elections were interrupted or suspended. But the Republic of Vietnam in the southern half of the then divided country had several presidential and National Assembly elections. Since 1975 and reunification of the country Vietnamese have cast ballots for National Assembly representatives and local People's Council members nearly every five years." And beginning in the late 1990s, there has been a nationwide program to enhance "grassroots democracy. which expanded elections to include how village heads are selected. That program also goes beyond elections by encouraging villagers' direct involvement in local government policy decisions, budget making, and the design and implementation of development projects (UNDP 2006)