(Luận văn thạc sĩ) an analysis of legal framework for policy advocacy in vietnam with reference to developed countries experiences

VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI
VIETNAM JAPAN UNIVERSITY

NGUYEN HOANG BAO TRAM

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AN ANALYSIS OF LEGAL FRAMEWORK
FOR PUBLIC POLICY ADVOCACY IN
VIETNAM WITH REFERENCE TO
DEVELOPED COUNTRIES' EXPERIENCES

MASTER'S THESIS


VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI
VIETNAM JAPAN UNIVERSITY

NGUYEN HOANG BAO TRAM

AN ANALYSIS OF LEGAL FRAMEWORK
FOR PUBLIC POLICY ADVOCACY IN
VIETNAM WITH REFERENCE TO
DEVELOPED COUNTRIES' EXPERIENCES
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MAJOR: PUBLIC POLICY
CODE: 8340402.01

RESEARCH SUPERVISOR:
Dr. DANG QUANG VINH

Hanoi, 2021


COMMITMENT
I hereby declare that this is my own research work. The data and research results in the
thesis are honest, have clear origins and are fully cited in accordance with regulations.

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ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
I would want to express my gratitude to my supervisor, Dr. Vinh, for his unwavering
support. Despite his busy schedule, he constantly makes an effort to assist me and
provide me with useful information. Dr. Vinh helped me better comprehend my
research topic and suggested which argument I should include in this thesis to
strengthen my work. This thesis cannot be completed without his support.
Next, I'd want to convey my gratefulness to Dr. Thuy Anh and Dr. Hoang Linh for
their insightful comments and mental support at VJU. Although it was quite
unfortunate when I could not go to Japan during the internship, my teachers helped
and created conditions for me to have the best learning opportunities and experiences
during my internship. In addition, I'd want to express my gratitude to all of the
teachers at VJU, as well as our program assistant, Mrs. Huong, for always doing her
best assisting me with the procedure for this thesis and other projects.
Last but not least, there are my loved ones — everyone who has supported me

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throughout this thesis, from the beginning to the end. Thank you for always being
there for me and encouraging me.

TABLE OF CONTENT

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ABBREVIATION ................................................................................................................ i
INTRODUCTION ............................................................................................................... 1
1.
Overview: ............................................................................................................... 1
2.
Research objectives and questions ......................................................................... 3
3.
Research scope ....................................................................................................... 3
4.
Methodology .......................................................................................................... 3
5.
Research structure .................................................................................................. 4
CHAPTER 1: LITERATURE REVIEW ON PUBLIC POLICY ADVOCACY ............... 5
1.1. Literature review ....................................................................................................... 5
1.2. Public policy advocacy concept and basis ........................................................... 11
1.3. Purpose of public policy advocacy ...................................................................... 14
1.4. The Necessity of Legal framework for Public Policy Advocacy ........................ 16
CHAPTER 2: PUBLIC POLICY ADVOCACY IN FRANCE AND IN THE US .......... 21
2.1. Laws on advocacy in the US ................................................................................... 23
2.2. Laws on advocacy in France ................................................................................... 25
2.3. Some comments about the US and France‘s legal framework ............................... 29
CHAPTER 3: PUBLIC POLICY ADVOCACY IN VIETNAM ...................................... 33
3.1. Concept of advocacy for public policy in Vietnam ................................................ 33
3.2. Expression of public policy advocacy in Vietnam.................................................. 35
3.2.1 Regulations related to advocacy in Vietnam ................................................ 35

3.2.2. Advocate for public policies by domestic and foreign actors in Vietnam ... 37
3.2.3 Characteristics of public policy advocacy in Vietnam currently ................. 47
3.2.4 Trends of public policy advocacy in Vietnam ............................................... 48
3.2.5 Challenges in policy advocacy framework development in Vietnam in the
coming time ............................................................................................................ 51
CHAPTER 4: SOME RECOMMENDATIONS FOR DEVELOPMENT OF LEGAL
FRAMEWORK OF PUBLIC POLICY ADVOCACY IN VIETNAM ............................ 53
Recommendation for state agencies ............................................................................... 55
CONCLUSION ................................................................................................................. 57
REFERENCES .................................................................................................................. 59

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ABBREVIATION

EU: European Union
NGOs: Non-Governmental Organizations
VASEP: Vietnam Association of Seafood Exporters and Producers
VCCI: Vietnam Chamber of Commerce and Industry
VINASA: Vietnam Software and IT Services Association
VNGO: Vietnamese Non-Governmental Organization
VSA: Vietnam Steel Association
WTO: World Trade Organization

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i


INTRODUCTION

1. Overview:
Most of States have the common task of studying, assessing the actual situation,
comparing with the current laws and articles of the Constitution, making the correct
arguments to decide the solution for the urgent and important issues that directly
affect the security and development of a country. Because of their important nature,
laws often impose strict requirements, which can become barriers that make it difficult
for citizens to state their views and thoughts with government agencies. State officials
contribute to the development of reasonable and effective regulations and decisions,
ensuring the democracy of society. In order to minimize the appearance of such
barriers between state agencies and citizens of the country, the public policy advocacy
mechanism is established and developed. Up to now, public policy advocacy has
become popular in many countries and has increasingly demonstrated its objective
need in political life in general, especially in the policy process of many countries.

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Generally, advocacy is an activity carried out by an individual or organization to
persuade agencies to formulate and decide on the need to enact or modify a policy for
their own benefit or for the community or society. Although in addition to positive
impacts, public policy advocacy also brings many negative impacts, but no one can
deny the fact that public policy advocacy is increasingly becoming an objective
indispensable need in political life.
It is said that public policy advocacy in Vietnam is not really taking place properly as
in other countries around the world, because in Vietnam, the Communist Party is the
only party in power, most of the major decisions are made by the Party (Pham & Vu,
2013). The National Assembly with nearly 80% of the Communist Party members is
the place to institutionalize the Party's policy decisions. Public policy advocacy in
Vietnam is advocacy in the "Party lobby", unlike in developed countries, taking place
in the "lobby" of the Parliament.

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In contemporary international politics, there exist many types of political institutions,
many models of organization of power, many different models of policy processes and
therefore, the impact of policy advocacy on regulation in different countries is not
entirely the same. But the common point is that in countries where advocacy is
involved in the public policy process and there is a legal framework for this activity,
public policy-making is fundamentally more open, information related to public
policy is more revealed and the quality of public policy is higher because policy
decisions are often more correct on the basis of multi-dimensional information and
have been accessed and analyzed in many dimensions.
In order to minimize the appearance of barriers between the State and citizens in the
process of exercising public power, making general decisions, the public policy
advocacy mechanism is formed and developed. Vietnam is in the process of
developing, the need to advocate for public policies is indispensable. In Vietnam,
although at a limited level in both theory and practical political life, policy advocacy
also exists and is increasingly being recognized. Moreover, although the current

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public policies in Vietnam have basically followed and solved the problems posed in
social life, it must be admitted that there are still many limitations and shortcomings in
the main process of public policy as well as the quality of public policy making in our
country. That shows the inevitable nature of the research to clarify the role of the
public sector in some developed capitalist countries to find out the values that can be
referenced for Vietnam. Therefore, research and reference to experiences from
developed countries are indispensable requirements.
According to John Hopkins University (Johns Hopkins University Center for Civil
Studies, 2011), which the process of public policy advocacy includes the following
steps:

1.Analysis of policy issues; 2. Formulating policy advocacy strategy; 3. Build
alliances, deliver policy advocacy messages; 4. Coordinate policy advocacy action; 5.
Evaluation of campaign results; 6. Track policy results.

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This thesis focuses on systemizing and clarifies the basic issues of public policy
advocacy such as the concept of public policy advocacy, the purpose and the need for
public policy advocacy and public policy advocacy framework, from there, giving
general assessments of public policy advocacy, surveying the current status of this
activity in Vietnam (analyze some specific cases), find out problems in advocacy
activities in Vietnam. At the same time, it offers some suggestions to solve the
problem from developed countries‘ experience for public policy advocacy in Vietnam.
2. Research objectives and questions
This research clarifies the basic issues of public policy advocacy and the reason why
legal framework for public policy advocacy is necessary. The thesis is also
researching on the current state of public policy advocacy in the US, and France in
terms of legal aspects of policy advocacy as well as giving general assessments of
public policy advocacy in Vietnam. From that point the author will offer some
suggestions for public policy advocacy in Vietnam.

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Research questions:

-

Is public policy advocacy indispensable and if so, how should the State behave
to promote positive effect and controlling its negative influence of policy

advocacy?

-

With the specific characteristics of political institutions and policy process, can
Vietnam learn from developed countries experience in building a legal
framework and responding to public policy advocacy, and which experience?

3. Research scope
The thesis only focuses on policy advocacy activities in the US and France. At the
same time, the thesis also studies the concept and expression of policy advocacy in
Vietnam today so that on the basis of comments drawn from policy advocacy in the
US, and France, find suggestions for Vietnam.
4. Methodology
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Qualitative:
This study uses inductive method on the information, research and analysis of Party
documents and State laws to clarify some issues related to public policy advocacy and
at the same time, using practical analysis and evaluation to see some signs showing
the trend of policy advocacy in Vietnam.
Themes, patterns interpretation on manifestations of policy advocacy in practice,
based on specific expressions, will be generalized to draw judgments about policy
advocacy in Vietnam. The comparative approach is nested within the discussion of the
manifestations of advocacy in the political situation realities of each country,
explaining the similarities and differences in more detail to make convincing and
appropriate reviews.
5. Research structure
In addition to the introduction, conclusion, list of references, the thesis has 3 chapters

and 10 sections.

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CHAPTER 1: LITERATURE REVIEW ON PUBLIC POLICY
ADVOCACY
1.1. Literature review
- The research works on theoretical issues
Many works have introduced the concept of lobbying and public policy advocacy such
as: Gary Wasserman (1997) introduced the concept of lobbying "Lobbying" Corridor
is when individuals or interest groups put pressure on the government to act according
to their will‖, this book also mentions about the subjects of lobbying are ―former MPs
or people who have worked in the executive branch, they are people with knowledge
in certain fields, with political experience and personally relevant individuals. contact
with policy makers‖. Another expression of lobbying is also given, ―Lobbying is an
activity that involves both direct or indirect contacts of organized groups (or their
representatives) with public officials. administration, policy makers, and elected
representatives to influence the planning and implementation of those policies.‖

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(Mulcahy, 2015).

According to the article "Contracts: Illegality: Lobbying" published in the California
Law Review (1927), in Clause 35 of Article IV of the California Constitution,
lobbying is a way to "influence the vote for a member" of parliament by bribery,
promise of gifts, threats or other dishonest means'. Article 89 of this state's Penal Code
considers advocacy as a crime like any other and recommends imprisonment from 6

months to 5 years for this activity.
Particularly, Luxon (2012) derives from the conclusion of an earlier study that
lobbying can exist in many different forms and the most important form is
―information advocacy‖ which is understood as ―persuading policymakers to take
concrete action through strategic terms of information to influence debate or policy
adoption‖ (Luxon, 2012).
Hunter and Wilson (1991), considers interest groups as the main actors of the political
struggle and divides interest groups involved in the political struggle in the US into 15
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large groups based on the interests that these groups represent. includes the
agricultural production group; cultural activities group; economic development group;
financial, insurance and real estate groups; etc.
Bennedsen and E. Feldmann (2002) focuses on the advocacy action of interest groups
towards the legislative branch alone, which considers legislators to be legislators. is
one of the basic objects that policy advocacy experts aim at. Also focusing on the
executive branch as the main target of policy advocacy from interest groups,
Ainsworth (1997) argues that legislators to be the ones who play an important role in
interest groups' decisions to influence to achieve their goals.
In this group of studies, the following problems are already discussed at different
levels such as conceptions of public policy and public policy advocacy, works on the
subject of policy advocacy, works that mention the object of policy advocacy, works
referring to forms, methods, means of advocacy, works referring to the environment
or factors affecting policy advocacy, works referring to the effects of policy advocacy

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- About public policy advocacy in the developed countries, there are the
following works

Holman and Luneburg (2012) covers advocacy regulations in some countries,
especially on self-regulation model for advocacy in the UK. Zetter (2008), has
dedicated a chapter to focus on broader issues and cover the campaign context,
activities in various organizations within the UK including the Scottish Parliament, the
Parliament of Wales and the Parliament of Northern Ireland, the British Government,
and local governments (as well as the various associations belonging to this
government), Legislature and the judiciary.
Vymětal (2015) made an elaborate research based on a comparative approach to the
regulations on advocacy. The special contribution of this work is that based on
different criteria, it has provided classifications of the model of advocacy regulations,
thereby studying the form of advocacy regulation in some European countries. In
Europe, France has developed a Code of Conduct for Policy Advocacy in the Senate
and House of Representatives in 2009, while the UK has promulgated the Law on
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Transparency in Policy Advocacy, Non-Party Campaigning and the Law on Trade
Union Administration in 2014.
Presthus (1974) summarizes the results of a comparative study on advocacy by
interest groups in the US and Canada based on transnational surveys and includes
concluding, despite differences in political culture, structure of political institutions,
regardless of legal status or development level of policy advocacy, interest groups
play an important role as a bridge to connect between public power actors with other
actors in the social life of North America. This more or less suggests to us the
influence of these factors on public policy advocacy practice.
Hunter and Wilson (1991) made an elaborate study of public policy advocacy practice
in the United States.
The works in this group focus on the following: laws or regulations on advocacy,
works that refer to the practice of policy advocacy in developed countries.
- The studies refer to recommendations and solutions to promote the positive

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aspect as well as the effectiveness of public policy advocacy
There are not many works discussing this issue, of which 3 main works by Luxon
(2012), Mulcahy (2015) and Marsteller (2013). The authors argue that: When policy
advocacy is not regulated and remains under public scrutiny, there is a potential risk
of increasing negative influence from this activity. Without a strong ethical barrier
between the public sector and campaigners, decisions can be made not in the public
interest but solely for personal interests. This can have serious social consequences
such as environmental degradation, financial system collapse, human rights abuses,
and threats to the health and safety of the public.
- Group of research works on public policy and advocacy in Vietnam
Vu Xuan Tien (2008) presents the concept of policy advocacy is the propaganda,
explanation and encouragement of people to research, draft and issue policies to
voluntarily build policies according to the legitimate aspirations of the advocates. The
article has analyzed and pointed out five problems that are also major difficulties that
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need to be solved for policy advocacy activities in Vietnam, which are (1) the legal
basis of policy advocacy in our country is not strong enough, (2) the consultation of
the people and the business community on legal documents in our country has not
been thorough, (3) the agencies in charge of drafting documents on economic and
social policies have not been very objective when drafting documents and absorbing
comments during the consultation process, (4) the legal regulations for receiving
consultation opinions and handling issues with different opinions are not complete and
clear, (5) policy advocacy through consultation with the people and business
community as in recent years is not feasible in the following years.
Vu Thi Nhai (2009) discusses the requirement to create a basic legal framework for

the advocacy activities of businesses based on three issues: legal and practical premise
from businesses and economic associations, the role of advisory agencies and making
recommendations.
Nguyen Huu De (2014) focuses on research on the impact of interest groups on policy
making in Vietnam, including positive and negative impacts. Specifically, the author

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analyzes the positive effects of interest groups on policy making in Vietnam based on
economic, political and social impacts, and also points out three negative effects of
policy advocacy, they are emergence of a number of monopolistic, manipulative
interests; inequality between interest groups, especially between large groups and
disadvantaged groups; the risk of using illegal methods to bribe decision-makers.
Dao and Vu (2015) includes a set of 17 essays of public policy advocacy experts in
the world and in Vietnam which were selected and presented in the seminar of the
same name. The articles have mentioned more deeply the concepts and practices of
public policy advocacy in some countries around the world such as the concept of
public policy advocacy, the basis of public policy advocacy, the nature and subject of
public policy advocacy, positive and negative aspects of public policy advocacy,
methods and principles of public policy advocacy; it presented the characteristics,
history and practice of lobbying in the Soviet Union and Russia today and the
practices in Vietnam from there make some recommendations. This is probably the
latest work also the most focused study on public policy advocacy, including the
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practice and experience of advocacy in some countries around the world, the law on
advocacy of some countries also initially mentioned the manifestation of public policy
advocacy in Vietnam. However, because it is only a synthesis of seminar presentations,
the presented content is not really deep and convincing.
Vietnam research group has outlined in a relatively detailed way about public policy

issues and public policy advocacy in Vietnam such as clarifying the shortcomings and
inadequacies in policy advocacy practice in Vietnam stemming from the specifics of
the political system and other conditions. These group works also mentioned the basis
for policy advocacy in Vietnam today and mentioned some manifestations of policy
advocacy in our country such as through the activities of non-governmental
organizations, policy advocacy efforts of Vietnamese enterprises, policy advocacy
activities of the government and Vietnamese enterprises abroad, from there some
solutions have been proposed to promote active public policy advocacy in Vietnam.
-

Related literature

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OECD (2007) argues that lobbying can be a constructive force in that it has the ability
to encourage political engagement, provide useful insights to decision-makers, and
facilitate stakeholder access to the formation and implementation of public policy.
Lobbying, on the other hand, may be a murky operation with a shady reputation. This
chapter gives an overview of lobbying practices in Kazakhstan and discusses the
policies that govern lobbying activities. At the intersection of the public and private
sectors, the chapter highlights places where more should be done to foster a culture of
integrity such as establish guidelines for the interaction of the public, private, and notfor-profit sectors or apply pre- and post-employment policies.
Jasmontaite (2017) focuses on lobbying legislation at the European level. The thesis
aims to address the question "to what degree should lobbying be regulated?" in
particular. The author argues that it is important to learn from current experience. As a
result, seven countries' applicable legislation is compared and evaluated. Moreover,
the study depicts and critiques the current legal system in which lobbying at the
European Union operates, as well as its flaws. The study is interdisciplinary in nature,
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as it addresses both legal and political issues, attempting to strike a balance between
two disparate but connected disciplines. The conclusion provides a summary of the
empirical findings, which could be used to model potential lobbying legislation at the
EU level. On this basis, suggestions for the potential implementation of the lobbying
legislation are made.
Harstady and Svenssonz (2009) argues this issue from economic development point of
view: Since laws are usually enforced by bureaucrats, but only politicians can amend
them, a bribe aimed at bending the rule is referred to as ‗corruption‘ whereas an effort
to change the rule is referred to as ‗lobbying‘. Without advocacy legal framework,
instead of compliance with the law, a company can either bribe an official to bend the
rules and be excluded from it, or it can petition the government together to amend or
relax the criteria. In addition, each company determines how much money to spend.
According to popular belief, companies in developing countries are more likely to pay
bribes to get around regulatory limits, while companies in developed countries are
more likely to lobby the government to amend policies that concern them. This

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establishes a two-way relationship with the degree of economic growth. Since there is
no need to comply or bargain with the bureaucrats when there is no rule, the
bureaucrats effectively price themselves out of the market. After a company has
invested, the bureaucrat cannot promise that the requisite bribes will not be raised; at
some stage, the bribes will be so large that the companies will opt to lobby for
deregulation instead. The hold-up issue associated with corruption, on the other hand,
can be so big that companies never spend enough to make lobbying worthwhile.
Therefore, a poverty trap has developed. Good regulation would prevail as the
economy grows. Furthermore, as the level of growth rises, the ideal penalty for
corruption should rise as well.
In this group, the literatures mention the importance of legal framework for public

policy advocacy and points out specific and practical cases in countries that already
have a legal framework for policy advocacy. However, the reality in Vietnam is
different from the countries studied above.
Research gap
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Currently there is no in-depth research on public policy advocacy in Vietnam, if any,
it is only scattered about relevant regulations as a basis for public policy advocacy in
Vietnam or some of the manifestations of policy advocacy in Vietnam which are not
systematic. In particular, from researching policy advocacy practices in other
countries and from the perception of the manifestation of public policy advocacy in
Vietnam, bringing out lessons for Vietnam, especially focusing on the experience of
the Government of other countries with policy advocacy as a reference value for the
current Government of Vietnam is a specific research direction of this thesis. The
source of knowledge may not be completely new but relatively systematic about the
problem mentioned in this thesis.
1.2.

Public policy advocacy concept and basis

Under certain conditions, people and actors in society have the need to influence the
policy process of the state in order to make these policies beneficial or at least not
prejudicial to the interests of the state. This contributes to explain the inevitability of
policy advocacy in political life. Policy advocacy definitions can be sorted into groups

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as follows:

The first group, advocacy of public policy is simply a way to influence the policy
process through different modes and means to achieve the purpose of policy change
according to the direction is beneficial for the advocacy subject.
First of all, public policy advocacy is perceived as ―activities affecting policy making;
specific activities are subject to regulations; types of nonprofit organizations working
to shape public information, policies and programs; and options for social and
political change‖ (Reid, 2000). This concept is inclined to the advocacy approach as
an activity conducted by non-profit organizations.
Advocacy is also defined as active, covert, or unintentional support for a particular
policy or group of policies. (Lackey, 2007)
Advocacy is defined simply as a political process carried out by an individual or a
group to influence decisions or the allocation of resources within the framework of
political institutions or systems. This approach to advocacy has broader context, in
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addition to pointing out the purpose of advocacy is to influence policy decisions, also
including the allocation of resources in certain conditions.
"Policy advocacy is an activity that influences and convinces state agencies about
solutions and resources to solve specific interests through policies" (Dao & Vu, 2015).
This approach clearly states that the purpose of advocacy is to alter specific interests
by influencing policy.
Public policy advocacy is a process that influences governments and government
agencies by providing information on the public policy agenda (Zetter, 2008). This
concept emphasizes how to conduct advocacy.
Advocacy can also be perceived as any attempt to influence public policy by
providing information, speaking with decision-makers, demonstrating an interest in
policy change, and other similar activities to induce the desired policy change (Casey,
2011).
The second group approaches public policy advocacy as a positive activity with the

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meaning of making the policy process more transparent and effective:
Policy advocacy is the action of solving a problem that causes difficulties,
contradictions or impedes the socio-economic development of a country (Casey,
2011). Policy advocacy is a systematic effort to influence decision-makers to create
policies that are more suitable with practical conditions.
Advocacy is the process of creating support, building consensus, forming an enabling
atmosphere and a supportive environment for a particular path or problem through a
system of actions. well planned and well organized by a group of individuals or
organizations working together.
According to this group, advocacy in the most common sense is understood as the
process of influencing policymakers, decision-makers to create a more appropriate,
transparent and effective policy.
Another group saw public policy advocacy as an activity with many negative signs:

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Advocacy is perceived as the means by which groups deemed to have negative
influence use to challenge and change the laws, policies and governing systems.
In some cases, advocacy is also seen as "a monster trying to wriggle into the
departments and corridors of the National Assembly of countries to manipulate." This
view is being echoed by the fact that there are many scandals involving
parliamentarians in some countries as a result of policy advocacy activities have been
uncovered (Dao & Vu, 2015).
Regardless of the approach, public policy advocacy has the following basic
characteristics:
Firstly, public policy advocacy is the process of influencing and influencing policy

processes through different modes and means to change policies in a favorable
direction for the advocator.
Secondly, advocacy subjects can be individuals or organizations, but they are either
those who hire other people to campaign or are hired to directly conduct the campaign.

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Sometimes these two types of subjects can be one, but in many cases, it is also the
current trend that the actors tend to hire companies or individuals to campaign for
themselves. The prerequisite is that policy advocacy actors must have some strength
to use them as effective means in advocacy, including finance, relations, information,
experts, etc.
Third, the object to be advocated may be individuals or agencies, organizations but
must be able to decide or influence policy decisions. They are often but not
necessarily government officials, parliamentarians, government agencies, expert
policy committees, etc. but also professional policy advisory organizations and Other
institutions have the potential to change policies.
Fourth, advocacy is carefully calculated actions. This means that the campaigners
always have to understand what policy they want to change, how to change it, what
purpose is there to determine who needs to be affected, and how to be effective. Only
when these questions are fully answered, will the advocacy process be highly
successful.
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In this thesis, the author chooses a homogenous approach between lobbying and
policy advocacy. And from the above analysis, the author of the thesis gives the
following conception of public policy advocacy: public policy advocacy is a
systematic and deliberate effort of the subjects in political life, in order to influence
directly or indirectly the decisions of the competent authority to change the policy in a

more favorable direction for them under specific conditions.
1.3.

Purpose of public policy advocacy

Advocacy can be done formally or informally to influence those in decision-making
authority. The unofficial way here is understood that, although advocacy is not a
mandatory procedure of the process of making policies and decisions, it has an
additional effect on the process of making policies and decisions of people who have
authority.

Because

advocacy

gives

competent

people

a

comprehensive,

multidimensional view with full information and evidence as well as opinions and
recommendations of voters and society on the issue under consideration, on that basis,

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they make decisions that benefit society, voters or interest groups, etc. Therefore, it
can be said that advocacy is a behind the scenes activity, but have complement role,
with a strong impact on all stages of the decision-making process. Policy advocacy is
the efforts of individuals or groups or organizations to influence state agencies directly
or indirectly in a direction that benefits them or the society. In other words, advocacy
includes all communications aimed at influencing members of the legislature,
government officials or anyone who may be involved in the policy process. The
purpose of this process is to bring benefits from valuable Government policies,
contracts and projects to the group or corporation.

Policy advocacy as a bridge between policy makers and beneficiaries, who is directly
influenced by the policy. In a certain sense, it can be said that advocacy is an activity
of conveying desires and aspirations from a certain interest group or corporation to
decision-makers. Issues, problems and shortcomings of the policy in practice will be
responded to, communicated to policy makers and on that basis can change, remove
barriers, difficulties; facilitate convenient for the operation of the state and people.
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Thus, the direct purpose of advocacy is to get policy decisions from state officials and
competent agencies in their favor. To achieve that, policy advocacy can participate in
all stages and stages of the policy process.

Advocacy firstly convinces policymakers that one issue should be selected as a policy
issue to be included on the national agenda as well as an attempt to prevent another
issue. become a matter of policy.

Second, advocacy influences the policy discussion stage to make policy options and
optimal options after the policy has been put on the agenda and is in the process of
discussing in front of National Assembly.

Third, advocacy influences the policy decision-making stage in order to promote the
issuance of necessary legal procedures for the formal policy to be approved or vice
versa, prevent or delay the adoption of a policy that is unfavorable to the campaigning

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agent.

Fourth, policy advocacy impacts the policy implementation phase in order to make the
policy implementation process get the right purpose if the policy implementation is
beneficial to the actors. Sometimes advocacy at the policy implementation stage is
also to prevent the implementation of a policy or to put pressure to make the
implementation process deviate from its original purpose but in favor of the advocacy
actors.

An important basis for this whole process is the provision of information and analysis
and information processing in a way that is beneficial to the advocacy group while
convincing the actors to plan and implement policies. Thus, the purpose of advocacy
is to provide information and documents to competent state officials, politicians, etc.,
thereby influencing the process of policy making and decisions promulgating that
benefit society or the individuals or interest groups involved. In that sense, advocacy
appears throughout the public policy process, but is especially important at an early
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stage, when the policy has not been officially enacted. The ultimate goal of advocacy
is to achieve a specific change in policies, activities, programs and resource allocation
that benefit those involved in the process. But in fact, depending on the context that
the purpose of the campaign can be adjusted. Specifically, when there is no policy, it

is necessary to advocate towards the drafting and promulgation of new policies; once
a policy is in place, advocacy should be aimed at creating a favorable environment or
support policy implementation progress at all levels; when the policy has been
implemented after a period, it is necessary to advocate for the adjustment and
supplementation to make the policy close to the real life - or even suggest ending the
policy.
1.4.

The Necessity of Legal framework for Public Policy Advocacy

Legal framework for advocacy is needed in democratic institutions:
Usually, law needs to be adjusted when the phenomenon appears as a necessity or an
irresistible trend. Therefore, in order to avoid that phenomenon from being

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transformed, causing consequences for society, it is necessary to make laws to
regulate it.
One of the reasons lobbying is considered illegal in Vietnam is that it can be a
condition for policy corruption. Vietnam's view is focusing mainly on this aspect,
because according to the general perception, it is what is happening 'under the table'.
Policy corruption has significant implications that are plain to experience. Policy
corruption behaviors, on the other hand, is difficult to spot. According to the book
Discussing the National Assembly (2017) by Dr. Nguyen Si Dung, there are two main
reasons behind this. To begin with, policymaking is a highly political endeavor. Even
though a policy is deemed good from one perspective, it may be deemed detrimental
from another. Second, the policy's consequences are difficult to predict at first. The
ability to analyze policies, the capacity to assess the impact of policies are the things
that we are still seriously lacking in the legislative process, as well as in the process of
promulgating policies.

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The most effective strategy to counteract policy corruption is to ensure that the policy
process is transparent and accountable. Transparency starts from the principle that
policy can only be enacted to deal with an important issue of the country, and cannot
be enacted for the will of decision makers. There must be tools to identify problems
and set priorities for problem-solving.
The framework's goal is to promote and strengthen the transparency of advocacy
operations in government decision-making. It encompasses all types of lobbying on
public policy decisions, not only commercial lobbying. Furthermore, the assumption
is far broader, acknowledging lobbying as a valid, not to say illegal, activity.
Advocacy is, in fact, seen as a vital and legitimate element of the democratic process
in political systems. It is concerned with all social players, both public and private.
This has significant ramifications, as it suggests that the framework does not merely
apply to paid, professional lobbyists working for private business interests. Rather, it
refers to the efforts of civil society and any other person or organization that engages
in lobbying of public officials. Advocacy regulations should strive to improve

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transparency and accountability in view of lobbying's legitimate role in public life.
Advocacy poses enormous issues and has a substantial impact on public decisionmaking, demanding regulation. The term "lobbying regulation" is often understood to
refer to the idea that political systems have defined "rules" that lobbyists must adhere
to while attempting to influence public officials and the nature of public policy
outcomes. Transparency is improved by such rules. In the absence of regulation,
democratic principles and good governance can be jeopardized. It is worth noting that
the lobbying regulations proposed in the recommendation have nothing to do with
corruption. Promoting transparency and accountability through advocacy regulations

can also contribute to a more general strengthening of public confidence in political
systems by increasing individual awareness of the process of public decision-making
in specific cases and the influences that are brought to bear on the final outcomes.
Such restrictions can help to strengthen the political system's legitimacy, combat
popular distrust in many states, and even serve as a foundation for more public

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participation in public life and decision-making. It is worth considering that civil
society organizations have also fought to improve lobbying openness.
Lobbying regulations may also help to level the playing field for all parties involved.
By shedding light on lobbying activity, all players – from citizens to stakeholders,
politicians and civil employees – are better informed about when and how public
policy is developed, as well as who is lobbying whom. Politicians will be held even
more accountable as a result of this.
The fundamental goal of the advocacy regulations is to increase transparency. This
acknowledges the validity of lobbying, as well as the necessity to guarantee that it
does not take place "behind closed doors" as much as feasible. The public must be
able to monitor lobbyists' contacts and conversations with public officials, as well as
their engagement in the public decision-making process, through transparency. As a
result, all interests that impact the outcome of the process should be able to be clearly
identified. Transparency serves to avoid wrongdoing and fight corruption by
increasing public officials' responsiveness to public demands. The improvement of

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democratic quality of life and equal access to public decision-making processes is one
of the key indirect benefits of transparency. Citizens who are more engaged are more
likely to perceive government institutions as legitimate.
The author considered it necessary to create a legal framework for policy advocacy,

with the goal of making this activity transparent and limiting detrimental social
repercussions (corruption).

The need of policy advocacy:
First, stemming from information needs from the policy makers. In modern societies,
there are always different, even conflicting interests. In essence, policy planning and
implementation is the redistribution of benefits through legal tools. That is the work of
parliamentarians - members of parliament. The policies that parliament enact all
concern public goods, and sometimes these decisions can benefit one individual and at
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the same time harm the interests of another. This is an incentive to unite individuals
with similar interests to form pressure groups to influence parliamentary policymaking.
Policy decisions are essentially behaviors about doing or not doing something.
And the boundary of the do-or-not-do behavior is where the campaigners participate
as a key catalyst influencing parliamentary behavior. The close association between
policy makers and policy beneficiaries is an objective factor for the creation and
existence of policy advocacy activities. A project, policy or a social plan is given
usually based on certain arguments of a group of legal experts or other special
influential members in society. But due to the heterogeneity of interests, rights,
economic and political status as well as differences in gender and ethnic groups, not
all groups of the population benefit equally in the promulgation process. and
implementation of policies. Some groups get a lot of benefits, in contrast, some groups
are affected negatively and lose. In this context, different interest groups tend to seek
ways to lobby policymakers to enact exceptional norms, conditional incentives or to
choose a more effective legislative solution to weigh equal to benefits - relative

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damage to one's group.

Second, policy advocacy‘s necessity comes from the need to participate in the policy
process to more effectively exercise the power of citizens. Advocacy helps the people
exercise their power more effectively. In democratic institutions, citizens' rights are
enshrined in the Constitution, but in reality, they are not qualified to effectively
exercise their statutory rights. Rather, there is a lack of practical mechanisms for
people to fully exercise their citizenship rights. To express their views or aspirations,
sometimes, they do not have official access to the competent authorities or individuals.
as well as the ability to express and persuade, so they only have an informal way
through intermediary individuals or organizations. And this is also the reason why
policy advocacy activities need to be born as a bridge between the people and the
government. Policy advocacy activities also create in society a democratic and
widespread debate mechanism, a network of links between non-governmental actors
and the government in the process of receiving, processing and responding to
information. In addition, social development priorities themselves are also competing
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