Thực hiện chính sách phát triển công chức văn hóa xã hội cấp xã ở vùng tây nam bộ TT TIENG ANH

VIETNAM ACADEMY OF SOCIAL SCIENCES GRADUATE ACADEMY OF SOCIAL SCIENCES DOAN VAN TRAI IMPLEMENTING THE POLICY OF DEVELOPING COMMUNE-LEVEL CULTURAL AND SOCIAL CIVIL SERVANTS IN THE SOUTHWESTERN REGION Major: Public policy Code: 934.04.02 SUMMARY OF PUBLIC POLICY DOCTORAL THESIS HANOI - 2021 Work completed at: VIETNAM ACADEMY OF SOCIAL SCIENCES GRADUATE ACADEMY OF SOCIAL SCIENCES Tutor: Assoc Prof PhD Pham Minh Phuc PhD Phu Van Han Reviewer 1: Assoc Prof PhD Nguyen Minh Phuong Reviewer 2: Assoc Prof PhD Ngo Phuc Hanh Reviewer 3: Assoc Prof PhD Nguyen Huu Hai The thesis will be defended before the Academy-level Thesis Judging Committee meeting at the Graduate Academy of Social Sciences: At: (o’clock) (minute), date month year The thesis can be found at: - National Library of Vietnam - Graduate Academy of Social Sciences Library INTRODUCTION Urgency of the topic The Southwest region of Vietnam is one of the major deltas in the country, and Southeast Asia accounts for 20% of the country's population [67] The whole region has 13 provinces and cities; 121 administrative units at district level, 1,571 administrative units at commune level The total natural land area is about 39,600 km2, the population is more than 17 million people, accounting for 22% of the country's population, of which there are about 1.3 million Khmer people, accounting for 6.46% of the whole region's population This region holds an important position and role in the socio-economic development of the country With its great potential and advantages, the Southwest meets all the necessary factors to become one of the key economic regions of the region and the whole country However, in the process of development, the southwestern provinces have to face many difficulties, leading to lagging behind in many aspects compared to the southern region and the national average There are currently many "bottlenecks" preventing the region's ascent, such as: lack of a common strategic vision for the whole region; land, water and environmental resources are inefficiently used; quantity and quality of labor have not met the requirements; changes in demographics, migrating out of the region in large numbers; infrastructure is not synchronous, not commensurate with the inherent potential and advantages of the region and development requirements; very limited investment resources, lack of a platform to attract private investment; slow to innovate and apply science and technology to production From a cultural perspective, this is an area with diverse and rich culture with ethnic groups such as Khmer, Chinese, etc These communities live together and create interaction and cultural integration in the community, creating cultural uniqueness It is this cultural diversity that creates challenges for state management How to promote the rich and diverse good values in different population communities is an issue that needs to be raised in this period This team is responsible for helping the commune-level People's Committee develop a plan to organize cultural, sports and tourist activities in the area, mobilizing the implementation of socialization of resources in order to build and develop cultural career at the commune level This team has met the basic requirements of professional qualifications, dedication, ability and enthusiasm to carry out cultural activities at commune level From some of the above observations about the contingent of civil servants in charge of communal culture in the southwestern region, it can be seen that it is necessary for the policy to develop social and cultural civil servants at the commune level to be implemented and effective in the southwestern region, helping to improve the capacity and qualifications of commune-level cultural and social civil servants in this area, contributing to improving the efficiency of state management of the commune-level cultural field The issue is more urgent and more concerning when the implementation of the policy to develop social and cultural civil servants at the commune level from the practice of the southwestern region still has many unstable points In policy implementation tools, program and project tools have not been given due attention State management agencies have not been proactive and creative in implementing policies and only stopped at applying policies from central to local levels Not only that, the development of social and cultural civil servants at commune level is not timely and thorough The specificity of the policy and implementation of the policy on the development of social and cultural civil servants at the commune level is not specific but similar to other subjects In addition, the process of implementing policies to develop social and cultural civil servants at commune level has some limitations such as: lack of determination in implementation; lack of financial resources; lack of qualified personnel to implement the policy; lack of capacity to develop policy implementation plans; capacity to disseminate, propagate and implement policies is weak Ability to assign and coordinate implementation; policy maintenance capacity; capacity to monitor, urge and inspect the implementation of policies; capacity to evaluate, summarize and draw lessons from policy implementation is not guaranteed Those limitations on the implementation of the policy to develop social and cultural civil servants at the commune level from the practice in the southwest region pose problems that need to be researched on this topic Another reason that the author chooses this topic is that the topic of implementing policies on developing commune-level cultural and social civil servants from the practice of the southwestern region has not been studied by domestic and foreign researchers Current studies only refer to grassroots senior officials; without much mention of the commune-level cultural and social civil servants The issue of implementing policy on developing commune civil servants has been studied less if not at all Is it just that the research only indirectly gives recommendations and solutions to develop senior staff at grassroots level It is for the above reasons that the author chooses the topic “IMPLEMENTING THE POLICY OF DEVELOPING COMMUNE-LEVEL CULTURAL AND SOCIAL CIVIL SERVANTS IN THE SOUTHWESTERN REGION” as the PhD thesis majoring in Public Policy Research objectives and tasks The first is an overview of research papers related to the implementation of policies to develop senior grassroots cadres in general and commune-level cultural and social civil servants in the southwestern region in particular The second is to build a theoretical framework (theoretical basis) to serve the research and implementation of policies on developing commune-level cultural and social civil servants in the southwestern region The third is to evaluate the actual situation of implementing policies on development of social and cultural civil servants at the commune level in the southwestern region The fourth is to provide solutions and recommendations to improve the quality of implementation of policies on development of social and cultural civil servants at commune level in the southwestern region to meet the needs of state management in the region Research objects and scope 3.1 Objects The research object of the thesis is the process of implementing the policy of developing social civil servants at the commune level in the southwestern region 3.2 Scope Space scope: Southwest region Time scope: The study collects data from 2015 to 2020, with comparison with previous periods The proposed solution for the period 2025 to 2030 Content scope: The thesis focuses on researching subjects who are social and cultural civil servants at commune level The thesis focuses on analyzing the process of implementing policy on development of social and cultural civil servants at commune level in the southwestern region and the factors affecting the implementation of this policy It should be noted that the policy implementation process is limited to research at the local government level, namely the provincial, district, and commune levels How have provinces and centrally-run cities in the southwestern region implemented the policy of developing commune-level cultural and social civil servants Research questions, theories and hypotheses Research questions The main research question that the thesis poses is: Research question 1: How to improve the quality of implementation of policies to develop the contingent of cultural and social civil servants at commune level in the southwestern region? Research question 2: What are the factors that affect the implementation of policies on developing the contingent of social and cultural civil servants at the commune level in the southwestern region? Research question 3: What is the actual situation of implementing the policy on developing the contingent of cultural and social civil servants at the commune level in the southwestern region? Research theories To carry out this thesis, the author uses the theory of public policy As follows: The first is the theory of public policy processes The author uses the theory of the public policy process to understand the policy process for the development of social and cultural civil servants at the commune level in the southwestern region to find out the pros and cons of this policy According to this theory, public policy is the result of a process consisting of four basic steps: defining policy problems, selecting policy alternatives, implementing policies, and evaluating and adjusting policies The second is the theory of factors affecting public policy The influencing factors of public policy include: the subject of the policy, the object of the policy and the policy environment The author uses this theory to analyze the factors affecting the policy of developing social and cultural civil servants at the commune level in the southwestern region to propose solutions to make these factors have a positive impact on the policy The third is the theory of public policy evaluation In this thesis, an important content that cannot be ignored is whether the policy on development of social and cultural civil servants at the commune level in the southwestern region has been ensured To know this, it is necessary to apply the theory of policy evaluation to consider the current results that the current policy of developing social and cultural civil servants at the commune level brings Research hypotheses On the basis of the above research theories, the thesis's author makes the following hypotheses: Hypothesis 1: The solutions to implement the policy on developing social civil servants at commune level are not of good quality Hypothesis There are many factors affecting the implementation of policies on development of commune-level cultural and social civil servants in the southwestern region Hypothesis Implementation of the policy on development of social and cultural civil servants at the commune level in the southwestern region has not been ensured Research methodology and method 4.1 Sociological investigation method The author of the thesis conducts a sociological investigation survey Sampling method is a convenient non-probability method and data after collection will be analyzed using SPSS 20.0 software Questionnaire survey method The survey method by questionnaire was conducted with subjects who are social and cultural officials at commune level in the southwest region, including 1,000 votes divided equally among 10 provinces of this region The collected questions will be filtered for inappropriate surveys, then input and process data The whole southwest region has 13 provinces, but because of time conditions, the author chooses 10 representative provinces as follows: - The author chooses Can Tho City because it is a city directly under the central government, so it needs to be included in the survey; - The author chooses Tra Vinh province and leaves Soc Trang province because these two provinces have similar social conditions with a high proportion of ethnic minorities Therefore, the author chooses Tra Vinh province to be representative - The author chose to survey Ca Mau province and did not choose Hau Giang province because Hau Giang and Ca Mau provinces have many similarities and are also adjacent, so the author chooses Ca Mau province to represent these two provinces - The author chose to survey Tien Giang province and not Long An province because the two provinces have similar conditions near Ho Chi Minh City with similar socio-economic development trends - The author surveyed some other provinces such as Dong Thap, An Giang, Ben Tre, Vinh Long, Bac Lieu, Kien Giang Thus, it can be said that, although the author chooses 10 out of 13 provinces, these 10 provinces are still representative of 13 provinces of the southwestern region, and still suitable with the limited time and resources of the PhD student This method is used to collect data for analysis for chapter 3, to help learn about the actual situation of implementing policies on developing commune-level cultural and social civil servants in the southwestern provinces 4.2 Secondary data collection method The use of these methods is intended to: - Describe the context of the southwestern region in order to help see the challenges and opportunities presented by the domestic and international context in relation to commune-level civil servant development policy in general - Describe the policy to develop social and cultural civil servants at the commune level in the southwestern region Describe the policy implementation process and systematize it Secondary sources include policies, legal documents and state action plans on the development of social and cultural civil servants in the commune Secondary data collection method is used mainly in chapter 1, chapter and chapter New contributions of the thesis The thesis has some scientific contributions as follows: Firstly, the thesis has contributed in clarifying the policy implementation process associated with the development of commune-level cultural and social civil servants in the southwestern region In public policy studies, many domestic and foreign authors have presented the policy implementation process, but these processes are common to all policies, not the process of policy on development of social and cultural civil servants at the commune level in the southwestern region Therefore, the thesis has analyzed the policy implementation process in association with the reality of the policy on development of social and cultural civil servants at commune level in the southwestern region Secondly, the thesis has contributed in analyzing the factors affecting the implementation of policies on development of social and cultural civil servants at commune level in the southwestern region The thesis has pointed out a number of important factors affecting the implementation of policies on development of social and cultural civil servants at commune level It can be mentioned as the policy itself; implementing entity and implementing resources Among these three subjects, the author has deeply analyzed the policy content elements and has provided many analyzes, interpretations and analyzes as well as some solutions to complete the most important factor which is the main content of the policy This is also one of the scientific contributions of the thesis Theoretical and practical significance of the thesis - In terms of theoretical significance, the thesis has the follows: The thesis contributes to the application of the theory of public policy to the specific field of developing social civil servants at the commune level, enriching the theory of public policy as a theoretical framework to evaluate the development policy of socio-cultural civil servants Not only that, the thesis also contributes to clarifying some theoretical issues related to commune-level cultural and social civil servants such as the concept, role and characteristics of this team These theoretical issues help enrich the theory of senior management - In terms of practical significance, the thesis presents and analyzes the current situation of the contingent of social and cultural civil servants at commune level in the southwestern region Besides, it also clarifies the current status of policy on development of socio-cultural civil servants in this area to make policy recommendations The research results of the thesis also contribute positively to teaching and research activities of majors in public policy, state administrative management and public management Thesis structure The structure of the Thesis apart from the introduction and conclusion, there are also chapters Chapter Research overview Chapter Theoretical basis for implementation of policy on development of social and cultural civil servants at commune level Chapter Practical implementation of policies to develop social and cultural civil servants at the commune level in the southwestern region Chapter Some solutions to improve the implementation of policies on development of social and cultural civil servants at commune level in the southwestern region Chapter RESEARCH OVERVIEW 1.1 Overview of studies on the concept, role and characteristics of socialcultural civil servants at commune level 1.1.1 On the concept of social and cultural civil servants at commune level Regarding the concept of senior officials, most of the studies have a relatively similar understanding of these two concepts because these studies are based on the Law on Senior Officials 2008 Some authors such as Nguyen Thi Hue can be mentioned in the study "The current situation and some solutions to improve the quality of senior cadres in specialized agencies under the People's Committee of Ba Ria-Vung Tau province”; Tran Thanh Cuong [20, p.23] has researched on “Quality of state management officials in the city-level economy in Hanoi”; Nguyen Manh Hung [35] with the study "Improving the quality of senior officials and public employees at the Department of Home Affairs of Vinh Phuc province"; Thang Van Phuc and Nguyen Minh Phuong [50] have the work: "Building a contingent of senior officials to meet the requirements of the socialist rule of law State of the people, by the people, for the people"; [21] with "Solutions to improve the quality of senior commune officials in Hai Duong province"; Trinh Tuan Thanh [59] with the study "Improving the provincial government apparatus to meet the requirements of building a socialist rule of law state in Vietnam"; Pham Trung [66] with the study "Some thoughts on the concept of "cadres and civil servants" in the past and according to the Law on Senior Officials 2008" 1.1.2 The role of social and cultural civil servants at commune level All the studies that the author of the thesis refer to acknowledge and confirm that communal civil servants play an important role in the political system in general and the state apparatus in particular However, each author has a different approach and analysis, which has made the issue of the role of commune-level civil servants diverse and profound in many aspects Authors Tran Xuan Sam and Nguyen Phu Trong [55] have monographs: "Scientific arguments for improving the quality of cadres in the process of accelerating industrialization - modernization of the country" Thang Van Phuc and Nguyen Minh Phuong [50] have the project: "Building a contingent of senior officials to meet the requirements of the socialist rule of law State of the people, by the people, for the people" Tran Thi Kim Dung (2011) in the study of “high-level commune officials in Bac Giang province in the current period” Different from the approach of authors Tran Xuan Sam and Nguyen Phu Trong [55], author Tran Thi Kim Dung [22] has attached the role of senior commune officials to the political system, to the state apparatus, specifically that the effectiveness of the state apparatus depends on the performance of senior commune officials In a more specific analysis, author Vo Thi Mai Huong [37] has an article on "Role of grassroots cadres in the new era" that emphasizes the key role of communal authorities in general and of civil servants basis set in particular Agreeing with the views of Vo Thi Mai Huong [37], author Tran Van Ngoi [48] in the study "The work of building and consolidating the contingent of senior officials in the commune and some current problems.” Some authors in the world, in their articles, also directly or indirectly mention the role of commune-level civil servants However, those studies are specific to each country, so when applied to Vietnam, it is necessary to consider and analyze to choose the appropriate points to inherit Zhe and Jiang [80] argue that civil servants have a very important role Firstly, the performance capacity and work efficiency of commune-level civil servants is the final step in the state's action process The research work “Local Public Servants and Employees in the Republic of Croatia: Legal Position and Obligations” by Lozina Llaric [72] presents the role and position of grassroots civil servants in Croatia Some research works on the role of local civil servants in each field such as hunger eradication and poverty reduction, for example, the research work “The role of local and regional authorities in UN development agenda post-2015” by UCLG [78] 1.1.3 Characteristics of socio-cultural civil servants at the commune level Characteristics are traits that distinguish one object from another It is a distinction that is very useful in science and in practice Each group of objects has its own characteristics, and therefore it is necessary to have a corresponding method of impact, adjustment and solution Stemming from this logic, many research works have tried to show the characteristics of civil servants at the commune level when studying this subject 1.2 Overview of research works on the policy for development of sociocultural civil servants at the commune level 1.2.1 Group of research works on requirements for the development of civil servants at the commune level According to author Tran Van Ngoi [48], the development of civil servants at the commune level needs to ensure directional requirements The first orientation is to build and strengthen the contingent of civil servants at the commune level to fully grasp the guidelines and policies of the Party and the State on building and developing the contingent of civil servants in general, including the contingent of civil servants at the commune level Author Truong Quoc Viet [69] overcomes the above limitation of author Tran Van Ngoi [48] and attaches the requirements for the development of cadres and civil servants in general and cadres and civil servants at the commune level in particular to the work and orientation of administrative reform Author Nguyen Thi Mai Anh [2] believes that the development of cadres and civil servants in general and cadres and civil servants at the commune level in particular needs to meet three important requirements First, the contingent of cadres and civil servants must be qualified and capable 1.2.2 Group of research works on the current status of civil servants at the commune level Nguyen Huy Kiem [39] said that civil servants at the commune level in the Mekong Delta are not only lacking in quantity but also weak in quality Tran Dinh Hoan [32] affirmed that in the current process of renovation, industrialization and modernization of the country, the contingent of civil servants has been constantly studying, dynamic and creative, making worthy contributions to the development of the country Nguyen Xuan Thu [63] has the research work "Improving the state management capacity of local government cadres in Tra Vinh province in the period 2005-2010" The research work "Improving the capacity of civil servants at the commune level in developing the Law on Organization of Local Government" by Author Viet Tien (2015) has made some comments about the capacity of this contingent of civil servants Regarding the current status of the policy for development of socio-cultural civil servants at the commune level, author Le Quang Duc [25] made very realistic comments and analysis on the quantity and quality of the contingent of socio-civil servants at the commune level Third, the thesis continues to clarify the orientations and requirements for the implementation of the policy for development of socio-cultural civil servants at the commune level in the current context and in the coming years The purpose of this content is to provide a "guideline" for future solutions Fourth, the thesis continues to offer solutions and recommendations to help improve the quality of implementation of the policy for development of socio-cultural civil servants at the commune level to contribute to building a contingent of sociocultural civil servants at the commune level in the Southwest region, meeting the current and future needs for cultural management at the commune level Sub-conclusion of chapter The main task of chapter is to review previous research works to find research issues Chapter one focuses on an overview of two main groups of research works related to the topic, namely a group of research works on the concept, characteristics, and roles of socio-cultural civil servants at the commune level; and a group of researche works related to the policy for civil servants at the commune level and socio-cultural civil servants at the commune level Previous research works have relatively satisfactorily addressed issues such as concepts, roles, and characteristics Issues such as requirements for the policy for development of civil servants, the current status of civil servants at the commune level, and solutions to perfect civil servants at the commune level are also mentioned in detail and serve as a valuable reference source for this thesis However, the review shows that there are still some issues that need further study such as the policy implementation process; factors affecting policy implementation; orientation and requirements for policy implementation; solutions and recommendations associated with the implementation of the policy for development of socio-cultural civil servants at the commune level in the Southwest region Chapter THEORETICAL BASIS ON IMPLEMENTATION OF THE POLICY FOR THE DEVELOPMENT OF SOCIO-CULTURAL CIVIL SERVANTS AT THE COMMUNE LEVEL 2.1 Concept, characteristics and role of socio-cultural civil servants at the commune level 2.1.1 Concept of civil servant and socio-cultural civil servant at the commune level 2.1.1.1 Concept of civil servant The concept of civil servant in Vietnam was mentioned very early in the Decree No 76/SL dated May 20, 1950 of the President of the Democratic Republic of Vietnam on the status of civil servants According to this Decree, the concept of civil servant has a very narrow connotation, only those who are recruited to hold a regular position in a Government agency, that is, the contingent of state administrative employees 2.1.1.2 Concept of civil servant at the commune level A civil servant at the commune level “is a Vietnamese citizen who is recruited to hold a professional title under the People's Committee of the commune, on the 11 payroll and receive a salary from the state budget" (Law on Cadres and Civil Servants 2008) 2.1.1.3 Concept of socio-cultural civil servant at the commune level A socio-cultural civil servant at the commune level is a civil servant at the commune level in charge of state management of culture and society Specifically, the tasks are specified in legal documents 2.1.2 Characteristics of socio-cultural civil servants at the commune level Socio-cultural civil servants at the commune level have the following characteristics: First, socio-cultural civil servants at the commune level work in the state apparatus through the form of recruitment by job position and associated with the rank of civil servant for life Second, a socio-cultural civil servants at the commune level holds a professional title under the People's Committee of the commune, performing the functions and tasks assigned by the Chairman of the commune-level People's Committee and the superior specialized agency Third, socio-cultural civil servants at the commune level receive salaries from the state budget The regime and salary for this subject are all implemented in accordance with the state's regulations on salary and salary-related regimes 2.1.3 Role of socio-cultural civil servants at the commune level Socio-cultural civil servants at the commune level play an important role in the political system and state management as follows: Socio-cultural civil servants at the commune level are part of the communelevel government Commune-level government is a concept that refers to the Commune-level People's Council and the People's Committee; includes two aspects: organization and personnel In terms of personnel, Socio-cultural civil servants at the commune level, along with other civil servants, are an important staff of the commune-level government They combine to form a unified whole to help carry out the functions and tasks of the commune-level government In other words, Sociocultural civil servants at the commune level are the core force in the commune-level government performing state management activities and providing services to the people in the field of culture and society 2.2 Theory on implementation of the policy for development of sociocultural civil servants at the commune level 2.2.1 Concept of public policy and policy for development of socio-cultural civil servants at the commune level 2.2.1.1 Concept of public policy Public policies are decisions made by state agencies to solve problems arising in society that the state wants to solve for the purpose of serving and developing sustainable society 2.2.1.2 Concept of policy for development of socio-cultural civil servants at the commune level First of all, it is necessary to consider the concept of development When it comes to the concept of development, it is common to compare it with the concept of 12 growth If growth is only an increase in quantity, then development is a change in both quantity and quality In the context of the issue of socio-cultural civil servants at the commune level, development is understood as a positive change in the contingent of socio-cultural civil servants at the commune level, helping them to better fulfill their functions and tasks 2.2.2 Concept of implementation of the policy for development of sociocultural civil servants at the commune level Implementation of the policy for development of socio-cultural civil servants at the commune level is the steps taken by the competent and functional agencies to put the policies related to the development of socio-cultural civil servants at the commune level into practice in order to create a contingent of socio-cultural civil servants at the commune level to ensure quality 2.2.3 Role of implementation of the policy for development of socio-cultural civil servants at the commune level Implementation of the policy for development of socio-cultural civil servants at the commune level has an important meaning in the policy process This is an important stage because the policy implementation organization is the hub that connects the stages in the policy process into one system This is proven in practice when many policies are set by central agencies, but when the policy reaches the locality, one must conduct research and apply it in accordance with local realities That means that the policy implementation phase also includes the content of policy making 2.2.4 Factors affecting the implementation of the policy for development of socio-cultural civil servants at the commune level 2.2.4.1 Subject of implementation of the policy for development of socio-cultural civil servants at the commune level The State is the main subject in the process of implementation of the policy for development of socio-cultural civil servants at the commune level in the Southwest region in particular and the whole country in general The state is both a policy issuer; both the subject of policy implementation and putting the policy into practice Not only that, the state is also the subject of mobilizing resources to implement policies as well as effectively coordinating and promoting the participation of other relevant subjects 2.2.4.2 Resources for policy implementation Resources are one of the factors that ensure a smooth, continuous and highly effective policy implementation process In case resources are not guaranteed throughout the policy implementation process, the policy implementation process may be interrupted and the policy implementation results may be affected 2.2.3.3 Policy environment Factors of political environment and orientation of the Party Socio-economic environmental factors 13 2.2.5 Process of implementating the policy for development of socio-cultural civil servants at the commune level In this thesis, the author uses the policy implementation process including the following steps: Step Issue guiding documents Step Develop a plan to implement the policy for development of sociocultural civil servants at the commune level Step Organize dissemination and propaganda Step Organize the implementation of the policy Step Evaluate and control the implementation process and adjust the policy Sub-Conclusion of Chapter Chapter focuses on clarifying some theoretical issues related to the topic of the thesis In terms of concepts, Chapter discussed and reached consensus on some concepts such as the concept of civil servant, socio-cultural civil servant at the commune level; public policy, policy for development of socio-cultural civil servants at the commune level, and implementation of the policy for development of sociocultural civil servants at the commune level It is a collection of relevant decisions of the State in order to select goals, solutions and tools to change the quantity and quality of civil servants in the direction of meeting development needs in the current period This policy includes objectives, solutions and tools to implement the policy for development of socio-cultural civil servants at the commune level is the sum total of necessary actions taken by relevant state agencies to ensure actual results are achieved The policy implementation process follows a process of several steps such as: issuing guiding documents and making action plans; mobilize resources; dissemination and propaganda; implementation and evaluation and adjustment The policy implementation process is influenced by a number of factors such as the policy itself, the subject implementing the policy, and the financial resources devoted to the policy implementation Chapter THE REALITIES OF IMPLEMENTATION OF THE POLICY FOR DEVELOPMENT OF SOCIO-CULTURAL CIVIL SERVANTS AT THE COMMUNE LEVEL IN THE SOUTHWEST REGION 3.1 Overview of the Southwest region The Southwest region includes 13 provinces and cities: An Giang, Dong Thap, Long An, Tien Giang, Ben Tre, Vinh Long, Can Tho, Kien Giang, Hau Giang, Tra Vinh, Soc Trang, Bac Lieu, and Ca Mau In terms of population, the total population of the provinces in the Southwest region is more than 17,828,907 people (excluding the number of permanent residents) on an area of 23,564.4 km², with an average population density of 706 people/km², accounting for 18.5% of the country's population (GSO, 2019) As regards culture, the Southwest region has a rich and diverse culture First, in regard to language, the people in the Southwest region have a very rich language The people in the Southwest region are strongly influenced by river culture, also known as 14 river character The people in the the Southwest region are not afraid to change, easily change their address and residence As to economy, in the period 2010 - 2019, the Mekong Delta has had a strong economic structure shift compared to the previous two decades The share of Region I in GDP structure decreased from 39.6% (in 2010) to 28.3% (in 2019); sector II increased from 25.7% (in 2010) to 26.4% (in 2019); sector III increased from 34.6% (in 2010) to 44.6% (in 2019) The rate of labor restructuring has also taken place strongly from agriculture to industry and services If in 2010, 62.2% of workers in the Mekong Delta were in the agricultural sector, by 2019 this rate would be only 43.3% left Statistics show that in the period 2010 - 2019, Region I only contributed 22% to the GRDP growth of the Mekong Delta, although it still contributed 34.5% of the total GRDP of the region Labor productivity of the agriculture - forestry - fishery and trade - service sectors increased very rapidly, with the average rate in the period 2010 2019 being 5.2% and 8.3%, respectively; while the labor productivity growth rate of the industry - construction sector is only 3.5%/year [40] In terms of society, the Mekong Delta in general has been successful in hunger eradication and poverty reduction, but the people's living standards are still lower than the national average As of 2018, the poverty rate in the Mekong Delta was 5.2% according to the Government poverty line and 5.8% according to the multidimensional poverty line However, the GRDP per capita of the Mekong Delta is about 80% of the national average and the gap is increasing, especially compared to the Southeast region 3.2 Overview of the contingent of socio-cultural civil servants at the commune level in provinces in the Southwest region 3.2.1 Overview of the number of socio-cultural civil servants at the commune level in provinces in the Southwest region The number of socio-cultural civil servants at the commune level in provinces in the Southwest region is shown in the following table: Table 3.1 Number of socio-cultural civil servants at the commune level in provinces in the Southwest region Province Number of socio-cultural civil servants at the commune level Long An Tien Giang Ben tre Tra Vinh Vinh Long Dong Thap An Giang Kien Giang Can Tho Hau Giang Soc Trang 192 173 164 106 109 144 156 145 85 76 109 15 Bac Lieu Ca Mau 64 101 1,624 Total (Source: General Statistics Office, 2019) The whole region has 13 provinces and cities; 121 district-level administrative units, 1,624 commune-level administrative units, accounting for a large proportion of the total number of provinces, cities, districts and commune-level administrative units of the country Compared to the number of civil servants at the commune level in the whole region, the number of socio-cultural civil servants accounts for about 10% 3.2.2 Overview of the age structure of socio-cultural civil servants at the commune level In general, the age structure of socio-cultural civil servants in the Southwest region is young (55% under 40 years old), specifically: Chart 3.1 Age structure of socio-cultural civil servants in the Southwest region Below 30 years old From 30-40 years old From 41-50 years old Above 51 years old (Source: Compiled by the author) -Under 30 years old: 377 people, accounting for 24% - From 30 to 40 years old: 487 people, accounting for 31% - From 41 to 50 years old: 440 people account for 28% - Over 51 years old: 268 people, accounting for 17% 3.2.3 Overview of gender of the contingent of social-cultural civil servants at commune level The percentage of commune-level cultural and social civil servants is 21% female, 79% male, as shown in the table below: Table 3.2 Socio-cultural civil servants by gender Commune-level Male Female cultural and No Province social civil Q’ty % Q’ty % servants An Giang 153 112 73 41 27 Ben Tre 161 142 88 19 12 Bac Lieu 75 56 75 19 25 Ca Mau 85 68 80 17 20 Can Tho 91 73 80 18 20 Dong Thap 150 113 75 38 25 16 Commune-level Male Female cultural and No Province social civil Q’ty % Q’ty % servants Hau Giang 76 61 80 15 20 Kien Giang 103 81 79 22 21 Long An 188 147 78 41 22 10 Soc Trang 103 82 80 21 20 11 Tien Giang 173 138 80 35 20 12 Tra Vinh 110 88 80 22 20 13 Vinh Long 105 84 80 21 20 Total 1.571 1.241 79 330 21 (Source: Compiled from Departments of Home Affairs, 2019) Although there is a large disparity between the percentage of women accounting for 21% and the proportion of men accounting for 79%, the state management of culture and society at the grassroots level requires fieldwork and many difficult jobs for women So, this difference is also understandable 3.2.4 Overview of qualifications of cultural and social civil servants at commune level in the Southwest region 3.2.4.1 About professional qualifications Table 3.3 Qualifications of cultural and social civil servants in the Southwest region Masters University College Intermediate 0% 1053 67% 299 236 18% 15% (Sourse: Departments of Home Affairs, 2019) 3.2.4.2 About the certificate of state management knowledge Most of the commune-level cultural and social civil servants of the provinces/cities in the Southwest region are mainly trained at the elementary level of state management (accounting for 82%) This shows that they initially grasped the basic knowledge of state management to serve their work requirements 3.2.4.3 About the level of political theory Although, there has been the investment and attention of all levels in the region as well as of the leaders, so the contingent of cultural and social civil servants at commune level in the Southwest region has had a strong change in quantity as well as quality However, this team has not been fully trained and fostered with the necessary knowledge about political theory to meet the requirements in the new situation 3.2.4.4 About language level Besides computer literacy, foreign language is also one of the mandatory standards and conditions of civil servants in the integration period The foreign 17 language level of the contingent of social and cultural civil servants at the commune level in the Southwest region is still very weak Commune-level cultural and social civil servants in the Southwest region are basically equipped with knowledge of foreign language skills, of which level A accounts for 57.2%, B accounts for 2%, C accounts for 0%, and college accounts for 0% 2.1% 3.2.4.5 About the level of informatics This is one of the mandatory standards and conditions of civil servants in the integration period However, the computer literacy of the contingent of cultural and social civil servants at the commune level in the Southwest region is still very weak 3.3 The process of implementing the policy on developing social and cultural civil servants at the commune level in the Southwest region 3.3.1 Issuing guidance documents The situation of promulgating guiding documents in the southwestern provinces is shown in a process as follows: Documents of the Party at the Central Committee Documents of the Party Committees of provinces and cities Documents of the Government and central ministries Provincial People's Committee promulgates concretized documents The Department of Home Affairs guides the implementation The Department of Home Affairs guides and implements 3.3.2 Making an implementation plan Based on the guiding documents of the provincial government, the district and commune authorities develop implementation plans The author conducted a quick interview about the commune-level socio-cultural civil servant development plan The results of the quick interview show that every year, district-level Departments of Home Affairs in the southwestern provinces have training and retraining plans for commune-level civil servants in the whole district, including cultural civil servants in this plan Thus, it can be seen that the district and commune levels not have a real need in planning and implementing policies to develop social and cultural civil servants at the commune level In the commune, the number of these civil servants is too small for planning At the district level, there is a plan on general training for civil servants in the whole district Similarly, some Departments of Home Affairs also responded that the Department has an annual but general training plan for civil servants of the whole province, including programs specifically for the commune level in general There are some training programs specifically for commune-level cultural and social civil servants, but there is no separate plan for developing the 18 contingent of commune-level socio-cultural civil servants 3.3.3 Organizing propaganda and mobilization Firstly, is to disseminate the policy on development of cultural and social civil servants to relevant agencies and units through the communication and publicity of central and local documents to individuals and organizations Secondly, is through the implementation of the training regime, fostering for social workers at commune level for each relevant civil servant Thirdly, is through the media to publish development policies to communicate documents and policies of the state related to the development of social and cultural civil servants at commune level Fourthly, it is through the units in charge of fostering training such as the Provincial School of Politics, the National Academy of Public Administration, the National Academy of Politics, and other central and local training units 3.3.4 Implementation organization The development of cultural and social civil servants is mainly carried out through training and retraining activities 3.3.5 Summarizing, evaluating and adjusting policies Inspection and supervision in the training and retraining of commune-level civil servants is one of the important functions of the Party committees, authorities and competent agencies in leading, managing, In addition, it is also an important function of the training facility so that the training and retraining of civil servants at all levels in particular and commune-level civil servants in particular take place in accordance with regulations 3.4 Factors affecting the process of implementing policy on development of social - cultural civil servants at commune level in the Southwest region 3.4.1 The subject of implementing the policy on development of social and cultural civil servants at the commune level in the Southwest region At the policy implementation stage, the factors affecting the policy on development of social and cultural civil servants at commune level are shown in the following table (See also Appendix 2.1): Table 3.4 Policy implementation capacity Factors Ratio (%) Capacity to develop an implementation plan 52.5 Capacity to disseminate policy propaganda 51,2 Capacity to assign and coordinate implementation 53,4 Capacity to maintain policy 54,7 Capacity to perform olicy adjustment 53,0 Capacity to monitor, urge and check implementation 51,1 (Source: SPSS processing results) 3.4.2 Resources for implementing policies on development of social and cultural civil servants at the commune level in the Southwest region The budget is an important resource in the implementation of policies to develop social and cultural civil servants at the commune level in the Southwest region The survey results are shown in the table below: 19 Table 3.5 Survey on budget tools for policy implementation Not Absolutely Not quite Guaranteed guaranteed guaranteed guaranteed at all Q’ty % Q’ty % Q’ty % Q’ty % Budget 238 23.9 294 29.5 290 29.1 173 17.4 (Source: SPSS processing results) About 23.9% of the answers are sure and 29.5% of the answers are very guaranteed in terms of budget A total of about 53% said that the budget is guaranteed and absolutely guaranteed 29.1% said that it is not guaranteed and only 17.4% answered that it is not guaranteed at all In general, the issue of budget for the development policy of social and cultural civil servants at commune level is considered to be guaranteed 3.4.3 Content factors of the policy on development of cultural and social civil servants at the commune level in the Southwest region Objectives of cultural and social civil servants at commune level in the Southwest region Commenting on the common goal, it can be seen that the common goal is to be "common" but that does not mean that it is so common that it can be true for all times The common goal in the policy of developing civil servants, including commune-level sociocultural civil servants, is currently in such a situation 3.5 Evaluation of the implementation process of policies on development of socio-cultural civil servants at commune level in the Southwest region and the causes of limitations 3.5.1 Evaluation of the implementation process of policies on development of cultural and social civil servants in the Southwest region The process of implementing policies on developing social and cultural civil servants at the commune level in the Southwest region has not been clearly shown What the author presents in the actual situation of this policy implementation process is drawn from practical research, but in fact, the separate adjustment of the commune-level sociocultural civil servants does not exist in legal documents It is a small part of civil servants in general 3.5.2 Reasons for limiting the implementation of policies on development of social and cultural civil servants at commune level in the Southwest region 3.5.2.1 The reason is related to the state's thinking about making policy 3.5.2.2 The cause is related to the capacity to develop policies to develop social cultural civil servants at the commune level in the Southwest region 3.5.2.3 The reason comes from the policy making process 3.5.2.4 Derived from the implementation of the policy of developing communelevel cultural and social civil servants in the Southwest region 20 Sub-Conclusion of Chapter Chapter focuses on assessing the actual situation of implementing policies to develop social and cultural civil servants at commune level in the Southwest region Aspects that are focused on include: (1) Factors affecting the implementation of policy on development of social and cultural civil servants at commune level in the Southwest region There are three factors to be assessed in this section Firstly, the subject implementing the policy on development of social and cultural civil servants at the commune level has not really met the requirements due to the lack of necessary skills and knowledge related to policy implementation The second factor is the policy implementation resource factor with the financial factor assessment Because there is no separate policy on the development of grassroots cultural and social civil servants in the Southwest region, the budget is not allocated specifically for this audience However, according to the survey results, the budget for the development of the contingent of cultural and social civil servants at the commune level has not been guaranteed (2) The process of implementing the policy on developing social and cultural civil servants at the commune level in the Southwest region Because there is no separate policy for this subject, the policy implementation process is not separate from the implementation of the commune-level civil servant development policy in general (3) The group of factors related to the policy itself has a lot of influence on the implementation of this policy However, there are still many limitations that need to be further improved From these assessments, Chapter analyzes the advantages and disadvantages of the policy implementation process, thereby giving some causes of limitations; as the basis for the proposed solution in Chapter Chapter SOME SOLUTIONS TO IMPROVE THE QUALITY OF IMPLEMENTATION OF POLICIES ON DEVELOPMENT OF SOCIAL AND CULTURAL CIVIL SERVANTS AT COMMUNE LEVEL IN THE SOUTHWESTERN REGION 4.1 Orientation of policies for the development of social and cultural civil servants at commune level in the Southwest region In the coming time, in association with the development strategy of the Mekong Delta region, the development of commune-level cultural and social civil servants in the general context will also undergo many changes according to a number of trends This was clearly stated in the 5th plenum of the IX Central Committee of the Party, which issued a Resolution on "Accelerating industrialization and modernization of agriculture and rural areas in the 2001-2010 period" and Resolution on "Renovating and improving the quality of the political system at the grassroots level in communes, wards and townships", which clearly states the Party's policy in building social and cultural life in this period is : "Strengthen the movement to build cultural villages and communes, restore and develop traditional culture, improve the quality and effectiveness of cultural and information institutions, develop mass communication and cultural activities " 21 4.2 Some solutions to improve the quality of implementation of policies on development of social and cultural civil servants at commune level in the Southwest region 4.2.1 Solutions related to changing thinking, planning and policy capacity to develop social and cultural civil servants at commune level in the Southwest region 4.2.1.1 Solutions related to changing policy thinking Firstly, it is necessary to eliminate the policy thinking that policies are issued only at the central level Secondly, expand policy thinking with the participation of the people, the policy community and the locality Thirdly, it is necessary to form specific and regional thinking in policy Fourthly, it is not necessary to separate commune-level civil servants from other civil servants The problem of such separation is not suitable both in theory and in practice Fifthly, it is necessary to change the mindset that policy activities are like other state management activities 4.2.1.2 Formulate a long-term plan on the contingent of cultural and social civil servants at commune level in the Southwest region 4.2.1.3 Solutions related to policy capacity 4.2.2 A group of solutions related to the adjustment of the content of policies on the development of social and cultural civil servants at the commune level in the Southwest region 4.2.2.1 Completing standards for civil servants of culture and society at commune level in the Southwest region 4.2.2.2 Completing the recruitment of social and cultural civil servants at commune level 4.2.2.3 Completing the reasonable treatment regime for commune-level cultural and social civil servants in the Southwest region 4.2.2.4 Changing the method and content of training social and cultural civil servants at commune level in the Southwest region 4.2.2.5 Changing the evaluation system for social and cultural civil servants at commune level 4.2.2.6 Creating a mechanism and legal corridor for localities to participate in the process of formulating policies on the development of social and cultural civil servants at commune level in the Southwest region Sub-Conclusion of Chapter Chapter focuses on two groups of important solutions related to the implementation of policies on development of social and cultural civil servants at commune level The first group of solutions is related to policy implementers This is a fundamental and fundamental solution for getting a good policy to help the process of implementing the policy on development of social and cultural civil servants at commune level in the Southwest region become reasonable, scientific and effective The second group of solutions is related to content adjustment This group of solutions focuses on contents, including: perfecting the standards of social and cultural civil 22 servants at commune level; completing the recruitment work; perfecting the remuneration regime; changing the method and content of training civil servants in culture and society; changing the evaluation system of civil servants of culture and society at commune level; creating a mechanism and legal corridor for localities to participate in the policy-making process CONCLUSION The policy on development of social and cultural civil servants at commune level in the Southwest region has been reviewed and evaluated on several important aspects with specific results as follows: Firstly, the thesis evaluates policy tools to develop social and cultural civil servants at commune level in the Southwest region Of the three policy implementation tools, the legal tool is the best guaranteed compared to the other two, which are the budget and the program and project (98%, 87%, and 63% respectively) Secondly, the thesis evaluates the policy itself In terms of goals, the general objectives of the civil servant development policy are not consistent with the development strategy of the region The specific goal is not specific enough, the SMART goal achievement criteria only R is relevant Thirdly, evaluating the results of policy on development of social and cultural civil servants at the commune level shows that, in terms of quantity, there is still a shortage, and the gender structure is not yet harmonious In terms of professional qualifications, in general, it is still low, still not reaching 100% of university degrees State management knowledge is mostly at the elementary level with 82% Level of political theory is guaranteed Fourthly, on the impact of policies on development of social and cultural civil servants at commune level Currently, the civil servant development policy has not created positive effects for the employing agency Up to 38% of respondents said that after training and retraining, the working efficiency of civil servants is the same Some responses change, but it is not significant and often difficult to see Fifthly, on the factors affecting the implementation of policies on development of social and cultural civil servants at commune level The thesis finds that the three factors are the policy itself, the implementer and the resources to implement the policy For policy implementation, the capacity of the implementer is the most influential factor In the process of policy implementation, the factor of planning capacity is considered to be the most influential factor Accordingly, in the coming time, it is necessary to implement some corresponding solutions First of all, there needs to be a drastic change in thinking about policy making and policy implementation Do not keep thinking that policies are only issued by central agencies There is a need to remove the egalitarian mindset in policy making Secondly, it is necessary to develop a long-term plan on the contingent of social and cultural civil servants at the commune level in the Southwest region Thirdly, to form and foster policy implementation capacity for competent state agencies 23 Fourthly, it is necessary to standardize the implementation of the policy on development of social and cultural civil servants at the commune level Fifthly, it is necessary to study and change the content of the policy on development of social and cultural civil servants at the commune level to be consistent with reality and ensure the elevation of civil servants in this field For example, perfecting civil servant standards, perfecting recruitment work, perfecting regimes and policies for civil servants, perfecting assessment, perfecting remuneration regimes, changing methods and innovating internal regulations training content Above are the research contents that the thesis has set out and solved They help find the answer to perfecting the policy on developing commune-level cultural and social civil servants in the Southwest region in order to directly and indirectly contribute to improving the quality of this contingent to perform well in state management on culture and society at commune level in the coming time 24 LIST OF SCIENTIFIC WORKS OF THE AUTHOR Doan Van Trai (2020) Develop the contingent of cultural and social civil servants at commune level in the Southwest region, Journal of Central Social Sciences, No 1/2020 Doan Van Trai (2020) Complete the policy on developing grassroots social and cultural civil servants in the Southwest region, Journal of Political Science, No 2/2020 Doan Van Trai (2020) Discuss the policy of developing grassroots social-cultural civil servants in the Southwest region, Journal of Culture and Resources, No 3/2020 Doan Van Trai (2020) Solutions to attract high-quality human resources to state agencies, Journal of Political Science, No 7/2020 Doan Van Trai (2020) AdjusT the content of policies on developing grassroots social-cultural civil servants in the Southwest region, Economic Technical Magazine, No 30 Doan Van Trai (2020) Propose criteria to evaluate the sustainability of tourism activities with the participation of the community, Proceedings of the National Scientific Conference Doan Van Trai (2019) The role of tourism enterprises for cultural heritage in the policy of sustainable tourism development in Ho Chi Minh City, Proceedings of the International Conference Doan Van Trai (2018) Current status of cultural management in Ho Chi Minh City, Art and Culture Magazine, No 405 Ngo Hoai Son, Doan Van Trai (2020) Training human resources in tourism: Approaching from the perspective of policy implementation to respond to climate change, Proceedings of the Scientific Conference ... People's Committee of Ba Ria-Vung Tau province”; Tran Thanh Cuong [20, p.23] has researched on “Quality of state management officials in the city-level economy in Hanoi”; Nguyen Manh Hung [35]... Party at the Central Committee Documents of the Party Committees of provinces and cities Documents of the Government and central ministries Provincial People's Committee promulgates concretized... Reviewer 2: Assoc Prof PhD Ngo Phuc Hanh Reviewer 3: Assoc Prof PhD Nguyen Huu Hai The thesis will be defended before the Academy-level Thesis Judging Committee meeting at the Graduate Academy