Building Democracy During War: Nguyen Van Thieu and South Vietnam, 1965–1975

This dissertation draws on democratic theory to examine how President Nguyen Van Thieu attempted to establish constitutional democracy in the Republic of Vietnam, often called South Vietnam. Although a varied body of work applies democratic theory to other countries and regions of the world, due to the fall of the Republic of Vietnam in April 1975 and the oft-cited view of Thieu as a military dictator, no scholar has seriously analyzed either the country or his presidency through that lens. The main concentration will be on Thieu’s efforts to establish a democratic form of government, and his successes and failures.