The Vietnamese tend to have a rather singular regard for politics, formal and informal alike. Their perceptions can be traced back through the centuries to various historical experiences and social traumas, many of them of searing quality. These formative forces shape individual Vietnamese' outlook on life's struggles, the proper response to society's challenges, as well as general political behavior. The resultant clutch of attitudes is marked by a deep distrust of politics in general and a cynicism about political leadership. All this, taken as a whole, forms the bedrock of today's Vietnamese political culture. It must be taken into account when studying Vietnamese politics. One simply cannot understand today's political scene without such consideration.

Of the many factors of influence, four have been singled out here for discussion as being of overriding importance: (a) lingering traditionalism; (b) clandestinism in political and social organization; (c) weak political institutions; and (d) a special kind of political divisiveness.

LINGERING TRADITIONALISM

Vietnam today remains deceptively traditional. The basic sociopolitical unit is the village. In the cities and towns can be found the transitional and modern Vietnamese, the movers of society. The 5,121 villages, where two-thirds of the population lives, remain bastions of traditionalism.

As in like societies, this traditionalism is characterized by a tyranny of custom; an overriding spirit of noninnovation; and acceptance, even defense, of hierarchy. The parochial villager is concerned with the particularistic but seldom with the universalistic.