Political Evolution in South Viet Nam

Archive Report

Test of Democracy in South Viet Nam

Presidential and legislative elections in South Viet Nam, scheduled to take place on Sunday, September 3, are not likely to produce any startling changes in that country's complex yet rudimentary political structure. The army will be the dominant social and political force in South Viet Nam after the election, as it is now, and democracy will need more time to take root in a country unaccustomed to representative government. All the same, the elections are regarded as supremely important by both Saigon and Washington; the winning presidential ticket will have a legitimacy that the ruling military junta, which came to power through a coup d'etat, has never entirely acquired.

South Vietnamese and American officials hope that voters will turn ...

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