| abstract
| - The Indochinese Democratic Republic inherited most of its political institutions of the Vietnamese state. When the union with Laos was established a new Constitution was written, the first of the Indochinese DR. Major amendments were made in 2004 and 2011, the latter being the most substantial and accommodating the political structures to the inclusion of northern Cambodia as third region in the union. Article one of the Constitution of 2011, approved after the inclusion of Northern Cambodia, describes Indochina as follows: The Democratic Republic of Indochina is a federal union consisting of the three regions of Vietnam, Laos and Northern Cambodia united under the sovereign Unity Party. The Unity Party represents the united people of Indochina and exercises sovereignty in their name to achieve the common good and prosperity for all. This article includes several elements that can be paraphrased as a democratic federal republic with a one-party system. The official name of the country includes both the words 'democratic' and 'republic'. Yet Indochina is often not considered any of those two. It can hardly be called a democracy since the only party allowed to participate in elections is the Unity Party of Indochina (UPI). It is considered contradictory to include both the provision of democracy and a one-party system, but the Indochinese regime has confidence in its own take on democracy. The democratic dimension can best by captured by considering the socialist past of Vietnam and Laos and is comparable to the people's democracies in Eastern Europe under communism. The republican provision is mainly outer form too as the leader of the country, Nguyễn Văn Đỗ ever since his appointment in 1994, holds the office of president. No real democratic or republican institutions have developed since all power ultimately resides with the Unity Party, the key feature of the system. Indochina really is a one-party state with the UPI that functions as the backbone of the entire political system. According to the Constitution, sovereignty resides with the UPI which governs the people in the name of common good. The UPI determines who gets to run in elections for the Indochinese National Assembly, delivers the president without popular consultation and concepts the major guidelines of policy. Nonetheless the Democratic Republic is not entirely subjected to party rule: economy and judiciary have been relatively privatized in comparison to the classical soviet-style dictatorships.
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