Abstract

This article examines the theoretical, legal, and practical foundations of mechanisms for safeguarding and strengthening popular sovereignty in Vietnam’s socialist rule-of-law state. Drawing on the 2013 Constitution and the existing legal framework, it examines key mechanisms, including representative democracy, direct democracy, and the oversight and control of state power. It also identifies barriers to the effective exercise of popular sovereignty, including gaps between legal provisions and their implementation, limited accountability, constraints on citizens’ capacity to participate, the digital divide, and the limited effectiveness of public scrutiny and critical feedback. The article then proposes measures to improve the institutional framework, strengthen governance, enhance transparency and accountability, and reinforce the people’s role as the ultimate holders of state power in the new era.

Keywords: Accountability, control of state power, direct democracy, popular sovereignty, representative democracy.