MINISTRY OF EDUCATION& TRAINING MINISTRY OF HOME AFFAIRS NATIONAL ACADEMY OF PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION LÊ ĐỨC HÙNG DOCTORAL DISSERTATION ON COMMUNICATIVE CULTURE PRACTICED BY THE PEOPLE’S PUBLIC SECURITY Major: PUBLIC MANAGEMENT Code: 9.34.34.03 HA NOI – 2019 The dissertation is accomplished at the National Academy of Public Administration Supervisors: Ass Prof., Dr Nguyễn Văn Hậu Dr Nguyễn Bùi Nam Reviewer 1: Reviewer 2: Reviewer 3: The dissertation is upheld in the presence of NAPA Doctoral Assessment Board, at the National Academy of Public Administration Time: , date 2019 The dissertation can be found at the National Library of Vietnam or the Library of the National Academy of Public Administration LIST OF PUBLICATIONS “Some issues on the communicative culture by the people’s public security”, People’s Public Security Magazine of Political Theory, No 29-03/2018; “Building the communicative culture and code of conduct for cadres and officers of the Capital’s Public Security in the new context”, State Management Magazine, No 271 (8/2018) INTRODUCTION Rationale Communications by the people’s public security, including the public security force in the capital, are one of the core issues in the public administration reform towards democratic values and citizen-friendly public administration In recent time, economic development has given rise to major social changes, involving a lot more burden on the public security force and complicatedness in their mission, with new circumstances arising Given such a situation, communications by the public security force have changed accordingly Practical experience shows that several scandals have resulted from inappropriate communicative behaviours exhibited by the public security force, not only causing them to fail to fulfil their job but also compounding the problem In response to that issue, the state is now proceeding with a study to find ways to build a modern culture in the civil service to meet the practical demand for sustainable development To respond to the new context characterized by socio-economic changes, technological advance, and imported cultural elements, it is urgent to study, in a systematic manner, the building of new communicative values and skills to be acquired by the public security force In the context of international integration, promoting the political strength must take precedence over the building of the armed forces so as to ensure the special power that is built into the people’s public security In order to build a people-friendly communicative culture, special emphasis must be placed on communicative activities as a strategic task and an underlying foundation for developing the armed forces Communicative culture is expected to work as a means to win the people’s trust Therefore, it is necessary to study the communicative practice of the public security force and to define determinants thereof, with aims to establish a specific communicative culture as a way to ensure the effective communications Given such a rationale, the author takes up the topic “Communicative culture practiced by the people’s public security” for the doctoral dissertation Research questions and methodology 2.1 Research questions The dissertation is expected to find answers to the following research questions: - What is the communicative culture by the Vietnamese people’s public security defined? - How is the communicative culture currently practiced by the Vietnamese people’s public security? - What should be done to improve the communicative culture to be practiced by the Vietnamese people’s public security? The communicative culture practiced by the people’s public security is defined as rational and equitable conducts and behaviours exhibited by them in their dealing with the people and the colleague while performing official duty That communicative culture will help to build the people’s public security as a sharp tool to protect the Party, the regime, the revolutionary fruits, and the people Practical experience shows that the currently practiced communicative culture by the people’s public security sees too many inadequacies for them to fulfil their role as the real public security force in the people’s eye Therefore, solutions to these problems will help improve the communicative culture expected of this contingent Research objectives and missions 3.1 Research objectives By establishing scientific and practical bases for the communicative culture by the people’s public security, the dissertation is aimed to find solutions so as to improve the said culture 3.2 Research missions In order to achieve the objectives, the dissertation is expected to conduct the following missions: - To analyze and elucidate the system of theoretical bases for culture, communicative culture, and communicative culture by the people’s public security so as to form the theoretical bases for the research - To analyze and assess legal regulations and the practice of communicative culture by the Vietnamese people’s public security so as to point out inadequacies to be resolved - Upon study of theoretical and practical issues relevant to communicative culture by the people’s public security, the dissertation raises scientific arguments and recommends theories and solutions to improving the said culture Research object and scope 4.1 Research object The research object in the dissertation is the communicative culture by the Vietnamese people’s public security 4.2 Research scope Scope of research issue is limited within the communicative culture practiced by the Vietnamese people’s public security in their performance of official duty Temporal scope: The communicative culture practiced by the Vietnamese people’s public security between 2016 and now Spatial scope: The communicative culture practiced by the Vietnamese people’s public security from the central to local levels, including all types of public security force Research methodology and methods 5.1 Methodology The dissertation adopts the methodology of dialectical materialism and dialectical interpretation of history 5.2 Research methods Analysis of secondary documents and data Survey by questionnaire In-depth interview Expert consultation and conference New contributions 6.1 In theoretical terms The dissertation helps to systematize, improve and develop some theories relevant to the culture, conduct and communicative culture by the people’s public security, which should be further improved in legal regulations, or which have not been studied by other research works, or which need further refinement In theoretical terms, the dissertation has not only systematized the theoretical basis for the general communications like other previous research works, but also sought to improve such communications towards forming communicative culture for a system, specifically the people’s public security: - The dissertation has defined the improvement of the communicative culture as the top strategic mission of the people’s public security in order to fulfil the duties entrusted by the Party and the people - Given such a research direction, the dissertation has built a set of evaluation criteria and a set of methods for organizing communications as a basis on which the communicative culture is built This will direct communicative activities towards sustainable values - The dissertation has built theoretical issues to point out how to ensure effective communicative culture - The dissertation has recommended some solutions to improving the communicative culture to be practiced by the Vietnamese people’s public security 6.2 In practical terms The dissertation has analyzed the communicative culture by the people’s public security and its characteristics, whereby contrasting the communicative culture exhibited by this contingent against that exhibited by other types of state officials The dissertation has assessed the communicative culture currently practiced by the people’s public security so as to provide a more panoramic view of this matter Based on scientific demonstration both theoretically and practically, the dissertation has raised solutions to improving the communicative culture by the people’s public security in the coming time New contributions in theoretical terms are made in the following three aspects First, the dissertation has, based on the set of evaluation criteria, produced survey findings on which general assessment of the communicative culture by the people’s public security is made, and analyzed the aspects in which culture is practiced: types of public security force, types of operation, regions The dissertation has also assessed the findings based on constituent values of culture such as truth, kindness, and beauty… Secondly, the dissertation has defined conditions and the extent to which effective communicative culture is ensured for the public security force, whereby recommending solutions in response to the practical demand Thirdly, to put solutions into practice, the dissertation has been focused on refining the set of evaluation criteria against which the communicative culture by type of operation is assessed The dissertation has raised specific proposals for revising operational regulations and policies applied to this force as well as penalties The dissertation has also recommended how to apply the set of evaluation criteria: integrating into specific activities of this force such as movement building, typical exemplary model, control and assessment Theoretical and practical significance 7.1 In theoretical terms The dissertation has contributed scientific arguments to communicative culture and that of the Vietnamese people’s public security 7.2 In practical terms Research findings in the dissertation have practical meanings in the research and improvement of legal regulations relevant to the communicative culture and conduct of the people’s public security The dissertation can be used as a monograph or the research and teaching of communication, conduct and regulations for the people’s public security Following the dissertation, other studies may be undertaken on the communicative culture in general and the communicative culture by the people’s public security in particular Structure of the dissertation The dissertation is structured as follows: Introduction Chapter 1: Literature review Chapter 2: Theoretical basis for the communicative culture by the people’s public security Chapter 3: Reality in the communicative culture by the people’s public security Chapter 4: Guidelines and solutions to improving the communicative culture by the people’s public security Conclusion List of research works by the author List of references Appendices CHAPTER LITERATURE REVIEW 1.1 The extent to which relevant research works have been conducted General judgment of relevant research: The extent to which research has been undertaken: International and domestic research into the communicative culture among the people’s public security includes doctoral and master dissertations, ministerial-level scientific research or higher, monographs, research articles, magazines, seminars, articles on the web forum There are doctoral theses on communicative skills by civil servants Most others are seminar articles, monographs, and scientific articles With respect to the communicative culture in the people’s public security, some documents are relevant to the following contents: The concept, content, characteristics, requirements, methods of performing communication activities; structure of the communicative culture and the method of constructing the communicative culture Regarding the extent to which research is undertaken: Major state-level projects have only discussed the culture in the civil service in general or one part of the communicative culture such as the code of conduct of the public security force Other research papers on the communicative culture of the public security force are limited within training materials and scientific articles 1.2 General issues on communication and communication in the civil service Relevant documents have virtually introduced the method of performing communication skills in some general situations in civil service practice However, there exist many other situations and types of communication relevant to decisionmaking, instruction, conflict resolution, individual and collective disputes specific to the performance of security that have not been analyzed or demonstrated thoroughly In general, there have not been specific policies and regulations about the system of principles and guidelines, or the rules of conduct relevant for communication based on which agencies and organizations can adapt them to their contexts 1.3 With respect to the communicative culture and organizing for performing communication in the civil service Relevant documents have virtually introduced the method of performing communication skills in some general situations in civil service practice However, there exist many other situations and types of communication relevant to decisionmaking, instruction, conflict resolution, individual and collective disputes specific to the performance of security that have not been analyzed or demonstrated thoroughly Thus, in terms of communication in the civil service, relevant documents have discussed the characteristics and principles of communication in consistence with the nature, requirements and objectives of communication in the civil service Especially, although the characteristics and principles are analyzed against criteria of aesthetics, behaviour and influence level, such documents have not built a system of criteria related to cultural factors in official communication Neither have they built a system of cultural communication criteria for a specific sector Documents on organizing and judging communication activities are limited to providing general evaluation criteria, without profoundly studying the specific communicative culture of particular sector and area With respect to communication practice in particular sectors and areas The relevant document has introduced the nature and concept of communication, the nature of official communication, methods and ways to perform communicative skills, methods of understanding and analyzing the audience being communicated with so as to adopt an appropriate communicative method In particular, this document highlights the preparation and procedure for conducting presentation activities * Regarding the communicative culture by the public security force: Relevant research works have generalized common perceptions about the communication practiced by the administrative police for social order, in which they have provided clear analysis on the nature of the said communication and its characteristics The research works have made theoretical contributions relevant to the conduct of the public security force in the following aspects: Defining the significance for improving the conduct of the public security force; introducing the conditions, contexts, and determinants that affect the performance of conduct; analyzing both domestic and foreign factors * With respect to international practice of the communicative culture by the public security force: scientific presentations by experts in the police force of England, Japan, France, Australia, Laos and China have pointed out the necessity, both theoretically and practically, to dispose specialized forces to ensure security and order in rural areas Typical publications of foreign authors relevant to communicative culture have made new contributions by linking cultural values with the manifestations of communication activities However, the limitations of these works are that they have not built a system of cultural values in communication Neither have they showed how to manage and build a uniform and consistent communicative culture in the organization On the other hand, these works have not discussed the communicative culture in specific forces 1.4 Assessment of research work relevant to the dissertation As such, such research works have contributed certain theoretical and practical values relevant to the conduct of the public security force However, such works are only limited to theories and solutions to improving the conduct, without fully addressing other types of communication They have not studied profoundly the content and skills of official communication in various forms and cases, such as reports, conference statements, interviews, presentation activities, guest receptions and transaction with citizens Regarding communicative culture in the civil service, which and the environment and circumstances in which the people’s public security communicate are very diverse and complicated; Secondly, the people’s public security perform communication with high frequency and intensity; Thirdly, communication by the people’s public security aims to many complicated and tough jobs; Fourthly, communication by people's public security is conflict-arising and psychologically stressful; Fifthly, communication by the people’s public security is politically oriented; Sixthly, communication by the people's public security is of high standards; Seventhly, communication by the people's public security is specialist Basic and essential characteristics of the communication culture of the people's public security: The first is systematism and unity; The second is scientism and modernity; The third is standardization; The fourth is class-consciousness, nationalism, and inheritability; The fifth is flexibility and creativity; And the sixth is sociality - historicity The role assumed by the culture of the People's Public Security: Communication changes the awareness, attitudes and behaviours, acting to form the revolutionary ethics for the people's public security officers The communicative culture helps the people's public security build and strengthen good relationships with other social forces, facilitating the mutual respect, understanding, sympathy, sharing and assistance The communicative culture is an important factor that facilitates effective operation of the people's public security in all aspects of job The culture of communication also acts as an educational measure 2.2.3 Contents of communicative culture by the Vietnamese people’s public security The culture of communication in the people's public security force is a system of values that governs the awareness, attitudes and behaviours of police individuals and police organizations (agencies) in the relation between man with the nature, with society and with themselves It reflects the extent to which the revolutionary people's public security develops in response to the requirements for development of the society The cultured communication exhibited by the people's police demonstrates their level, capacity, and style of law enforcement, earning them credibility and winning trust from the people It is an important condition for the successful fulfilment of assigned tasks Given its internal and external contents, daily communicative culture of the Vietnamese people’s public security is viewed on the following perspectives: - Adopting standards in daily communication - Posture of communication, ceremony, manner, greeting, name addressing, gestures and behaviours - Using costumes in communication - Communicative culture in speech, information and reporting - Reception and conference communication - The communicative culture in handling administrative procedures 10 The contents of communicative culture of the people's public security are expressed through internal and external components to ensure social values and norms, and regulations of the public security sector Improving the communicative culture for the people's public security is a continuous and particularly important task in order to raise the awareness towards strict observance of regulations and for training in terms of communication, behaviour and lifestyle for every officer, whereby building an increasingly clean and strong public security force in response to country’s requirements for sustainable development today Improving the communicative culture in the people's public security is aimed to raise officers’ awareness of their working style and humanity in the operational activities, to build a strong political spirit, to raise revolutionary ethics, and to avert moral, ideology, and lifestyle decline… Doing so, cadres and officers can put it into practice in their daily activities in order to achieve the highest goal of serving the people better and better 2.2.4 Constituents and criteria to evaluate the communicative culture Citeria for evaluating communicative culture can be listed in terms of: structure of communicative culture as a system of values In that sense, the communicative culture is the combination of various elements The fine combination between decisiveness and compromise, between rigidity and flexibility, and between cold and hot is the art of communication by the people's public security officers When building and practicing communicative culture for the people's public security, we must perceive that culture in a broad sense, i.e the value system of the culture specific to the public security sector Especially it must serve as a basis for building a set of rules for communication and conduct as applied to officers in the entire people's public security force 2.2.5 Determinants and guarantees for the communicative culture by the people’s public security The culture of communication is influenced by many factors, both formal and informal Defining these determinants will partially help to overcome shortcomings, working to enhance effective operation Based on findings integrated from communicative culture studies, from survey of cadres and officers’ opinions, and from the leadership of the sector, it is observed that guarantees for effective communicative culture and capacity of officers include both subjective and objective factors 2.3 International practice relevant to the communicative culture in the public security force Police in countries in the region, in Asia and Europe are trained win access not only to criminals but also to victims The conduct manifested by the police in such circumstances must be appropriate, sharing and sympathetic In communication, the police have demonstrated an image of professionalism, swiftness and timelines but with patience, gentleness, and even with friendliness, openness and readiness to help people in their daily lives, In addition, they are supported by modern technology and 11 facilities in the revolution 4.0 Countries pay high regard to the communication by the police force and recommend a lot of experience in drilling, training, testing, evaluating and modeling in the communicative culture of the force as applied to particular targets or the disadvantaged while still upholding the operational principle CHAPTER REALITY IN THE COMMUNICATIVE CULTURE BY THE PEOPLE’S PUBLIC SECURITY 3.1 Overview of the people’s public security On August 6th, 2018, Decree 01/2018/ND-CP was issued and became effective, defining the functions, tasks, powers and organizational structure of the Ministry of Public Security Accordingly, the Ministry of Public Security no longer has the General Department level The Ministry apparatus is streamlined by departments and nearly 60 departmental-level units, and 300 sub-departmental units The apparatus of local public security is streamlined by more than 500 sub-departmental units and 1,000 team-level units Police Departments of Fire Prevention in 20 provinces and cities including Hanoi, Ho Chi Minh City, Hai Phong, Da Nang, Can Tho, Thai Nguyen, Vinh Phuc, Bac Ninh, Quang Ninh, Thanh Hoa, Nghe An, Thua Thien Hue, Quang Ngai, Binh Dinh, Khanh Hoa, Dak Lak, Lam Dong, Binh Duong, Dong Nai, and Ba Ria - Vung Tau are incorporated into the respective provincial Public Security The Investigation Police Department of Corruption and Economic Crimes is merged with the Investigation Police Department of Smuggling Crime to form the Investigation Police Department of Corruption, Economic, and Smuggling Crimes The Department of Cyber Security under the Minister of Public Security is merged with the Police Department of High-tech Crime under the General Police Department to form the Department of Cyber Security and High-tech Crime under the Ministry of Public Security The Department of Information and Communications Security is incorporated into the Department of Internal Political Security 3.2 Reality in the organizing for building communicative culture for the people’s public security 3.2.1 Building and application of criteria and standards on communicative culture Leaders of the Ministry of Public Security over various periods have seriously linked the criteria and standards of communicative culture with the image of a model public security officer, a nucleus that forms the consistent common characteristics of the whole public security force The formulation and implementation of criteria and standards are relatively coherent, carried out in a serious and consistent manner However, the formulation and application of such criteria and standards reveal some inadequacies It is due to the Ministry of Public Security have, for a long time, adopted old criteria and standards, with virtually unchanged methods and measures 12 Meanwhile, social practices have changed greatly and quickly, resulting in many outdated criteria and models of the people’s public security not being able to change to be compatible with the advanced technology 3.2.2 Reality in the building of political and ideological movement on performing communicative culture The movement building is carried out in conformity with a strict procedure, at appropriate time with appropriate timing It is widely launched at all levels and localities in the force The movement-building activities are carried out through planning, assignment of responsibilities for monitoring, urging and implementing, and through evaluating and reviewing However, the movement building also reveals certain shortcomings such as poorly renewed and unrealistic measures for implementation, and superficial and untimely evaluation and review somewhere The same measures are duplicated and applied in different localities, regions and levels, without taking into account the local context, causing these measures to be rigid and stereotyped 3.2.3 Equipment, facilities and means of communication Investment in facilities and conditions for communication appeals to the great interest of the leadership of the Ministry of Public Security Specifically, public security leaders at all levels have facilities and equipment in headquarters and working rooms upgraded, and allocated funding for communication, reception, and uniform The investment in facilities is geared towards shaping appropriate style in lines with the building of a communicative culture 3.2.4 Communicating and reporting in the communicative culture Regulations on the status and principle of communication by the public security emphasize the legitimacy, representation and reporting function to ensure the unity in direction and coordination, the information work, the authority assigned to central and local police leaders, to ministry leaders and unit leaders through representation Arbitrariness that allows representatives to act with undue competence in project formulation should be avoided Limitations relevant to speech can be found at many levels, in many localities and forces The most observable shortcomings are in form of: reactive speech delivery; delayed and untimely speech in response to circumstances Speech delivery in some agencies has been carried improperly, with no spokespersons on duty sometimes Contents of speech are also one limitation: standardized speech contents are inadequate 3.3 Reality in the daily communicative culture in the people’s public security Due to its specific job, the people's public security force has frequent contact and transaction with citizens Therefore, cultured communication and conduct in dealing with citizens always appeal to the police’ interest In recent years, public security 13 officers have performed very well their political tasks and demands in compliance with legal and operational requirements They have studied to propose reform of administrative procedures to reduce harassment 3.3.1 Reality in the implementation of standardized communication with particular audience Cadres and officers at all levels, in all localities have virtually followed the key contents in the code of conduct as applied to the people's public security They define general principles in performing communication and exhibiting behaviour: To respect and protect the rights and interests of the state; the legitimate rights and interests of individuals, agencies and organizations in accordance with the national ethics, culture, traditions and customs, and the traditions of the People's Public Security However, in some particular cases, officers have not complied with operational regulations, orders and procedures They fail to demonstrate flexible and mild attitudes and behaviours Some behaviours are irrelevant according to the tradition, ethics and custom of the nation and the police force 3.3.2 Exhibiting communication posture, ceremony, manner, greeting, name addressing, gestures and behaviours Regulations and performance of ceremonial manners have long been shaped into order However, there have emerged manifestations of easy-going and formalistic performance in recent times, mainly at the local grassroots level Survey shows that officers in northern localities perform standardized manners better than in southern provinces However, cadres and officers in the south are judged as friendlier and more intimate than in the north The contents of operational regulations are basically in conformity with international standards, in consistence with customs and practical circumstances 3.3.3 The people’s public security wearing uniforms in communication In addition to positive aspects such as friendliness, seriousness, neatness, the wearing of uniforms by the public security force also reveals some limitations such as: inconsistent uniforms with wrong positions and features, at the wrong moment Officers have virtually abode by strict procedures in the wearing and management of uniforms However, in particular cases, violations still occur that stains the image and style of the people's public security officers, showing disrespect of the people and ill solemnity 3.3.4 Communicative culture in speech, information and reporting Speech and reporting regulations in the public security force are prescribed in writing The regulations have been strictly observed by officers at all levels, in all localities in terms of content, method and authority Characterized by specific functions and duties to protect the law and social order and security, the public security force must always be held responsible for timely speech delivery in accordance with regulations to handle hot and pressing issues that appeal to the public interest 14 However, the speech delivery is a complicated issue, with new and modern circumstances In fact, consultation of officers and civilians reveals findings that this activity has not been carried out professionally The contents of speech by cadres and officerss in the force are sometimes inconsistent and incoherent They even get around the matter or perform unauthorized speech In many cases, refusal to deliver speech also means shirking responsibility to the people and the public 3.3.5 Communication in reception and conference Meetings are organized at all levels in the force adequately and seriously, which have facilitated smooth operations of units However, the issues of confidentiality in a meeting or organizing a confidential meeting are sometimes carried out improperly, causing negative judgment from the public that they are not transparent and tend to cover up the scandals 3.3.6 Modality and method of communication by public security officers in handling administrative procedures The communicative culture in guest reception and transaction with citizens The reception of guests is performed with attentiveness by all levels according to the public security ordinance and the Working Regulations of the Ministry of Public Security Visitors are attentively welcomed The head of the unit will base on the contents of transaction to organize guest reception accordingly The unit must create favourable conditions for cadres and officers to receive guests who are their relatives or friends Guest receptions must be performed in a considerate manner in compliance with regulations When organizing for reception of foreign guests, the public security force ensures the diplomatic status in compliance with the people’s public security ordinance, according to the customs and traditions of guests and Vietnam According to the working regulations of the people’s public security, the reception of foreign guests must meet the following requirements and principles: detailed and specific planning, coordination and caution Guest reception is performed by agencies and officers in the force according in compliance with due procedures and requirements Some shortcomings in guest reception revealed by survey findings are described as follows: Guest reception agenda is sometimes unreasonable and ineffective; the meeting for consultation of the grassroots is not attentive or adequate; the review of guest reception is done in a formalistic manner Transactions with citizens at the citizen reception in the police office, units and localities are basically performed in accordance with principles set out such as the principle of publicity, democracy, timeliness and straightforward procedures; confidentiality and safety for denouncers are ensured in accordance with law; objectivity and equality and non-discrimination are ensure while receiving citizens 15 citizens are respected and enabled to lodge complaints, denunciations, petitions and comments according to the law Communication and conduct exhibited by public security officers in emigration control In recent time, the border public security has done a good job and satisfied the requirements for communicative culture, following regulations and standards for communication Some unresolved shortcomings to be listed include some cadres and officers not yet being aware of the customs and traditions of foreign visitors, causing them fail to show sympathy and sharing Some exhibit impoliteness and ill solemnity in performing official duty Although such scandals are uncommon, they are thoroughly reviewed and communicated to the entire force as lessons The communicative culture by the zone police in transacting administrative procedures In response to requirements for reform of administrative procedures, the public security force has issued regulations on communication in transacting administrative procedures at the central and local levels, at the same time thoroughly communicated the tasks, organized for plan development, supervised the performance and promoted creativity to complete the tasks In addition to the positive aspects in the communication by the zone police, there exist many zone police officers who have not taken initiative to approach the people Even in some cases where people visit the local police headquarters, many police officers have failed to give detailed guidance and information, or exhibited improper communication Unfortunately, these manifestations not only occur in the provinces but also in Hanoi 3.4 Reality in the provisions for communicative culture and determinants of communicative culture The provisions for and determinants affecting communication are considered from the perspective of the legal environment, staff training, inspection, handling and directing communication activities The general physical and legal provisions have been taken seriously and allowed for However, due to inappropriate appreciation of this job, it has not been carried out in a systematic, scientific and synchronous manner, failing to meet the requirements in the current context Among the above factors, the basic provisions are allowed for the training activities, followed by inspection and supervision These activities are seen differently in different regions Specifically, the training activities are performed more strongly at central and provincial units than at the grassroots level; the instruction and supervision in the north are carried out more frequently than in the south However, the inspection modalities in the southern are considered to be richer and more practical than those in the north and the central region 3.4.1 Reality in the issuance of regulations on communicative culture by the people’s public security 16 In fact, the State and the public security sector have taken it seriously to build a system of legal documents to ensure the performance of communicative culture among the people's public security force However, this system also manifests limitations such as poorly detailed and incomplete regulations on communication techniques in official activities; absence of regulations on communication involving international circumstances That practice calls for consideration and review of the system of documents in order to propose suggestions and solutions for improvement 3.4.2 Training and management of officers relevant to behaviours and communicative culture Training of officials in the sector is emphasized at all levels According to preliminary reports, all provinces have fulfilled annual training plan The training contents and organizational and professional requirements are emphasized Regarding training contents, training of ceremonies and orders are introduced Limitations in the training and retraining of communication are that the thematic training on communication for police officers at grassroots level is inadequate, with short duration which is not enough for practice The teaching staff is still in short supply, most of whom are hired from outside, causing them to fail to develop relevant training content in response to the requirements of the force The application of the training skills into the daily job falls short of expectations 3.4.3 Inspection, assessment and discipline on the performance of communicative culture The inspection, assessment and discipline relevant to communications are conducted in accordance with regulations on handling violations The inspection activities are conducted regularly according to plans All levels of localities have fully reported on handling violations as prescribed The inspection is carried out regularly and seriously Many cases are handled promptly with due responsibility This helps to maintain and improve the communicative culture in the force However, through surveys on officers in the force, it can be seen that the current inspection job is sometimes formalistic and perfunctory The modality of inspection has not been renewed, which results in impracticability and therefore, falls short of the purpose of effective inspection The inspection issues centre around wearing costumes and daily life activities, without specialized inspection into the communication culture such as contents and process of speech and interviews, meetings, communicating with people and foreigners 3.5 General statements Public poll about the communicative culture exhibited by public security force shows that: - aggregated rating by the people is quite good (67.5%); By comparing between various levels, the rating as “quite good” for communicative culture in the central people's public security is higher than for this force at the local level (74.2% as compared to 60.8%); By comparing between various region, the rating as “all right and 17 good“ for communicative culture of the people's public security in the south is the highest (73.7%), followed by the north (64%) and the central region (31.3%) The communicative culture in the locality is rated against contents: transactions with citizens at headquarters and handling administrative procedures, and daily communication while performing official duties in the area under respective administration In these two contents, the content of “daily communication” is assessed as worse than “transactions with citizens at headquarters“ By comparing the assessment results by the people with the internal assessment, it is seen that assessment by the people is compatible with the internal assessment level Upon analysis of the construction and performance of communicative culture, it is seen that generally the construction and performance of communicative culture in the people's public security are all right, with some criteria being rated as the highest, such as wearing uniform in communication; performing ceremonies, mannerisms, gestures and behaviours; organizing for the performance of communicative culture; communicating, speech delivery, and reporting on communicative culture The people's judgment is used to cross-examine the internal assessment People's judgement equivalent to the internal assessment indicates the public confidence in the public security force's ability to communicate and to perform official duties Analysis of the survey findings shows that the aggregated rating as “all right” and “good” in communicative culture at the central level is higher than the local level; comparing by region, the rating as “all right” and “good” in the south is the highest while the north and central region are lower but the difference between these two regions is not much (5%); comparing by type, the rating as “all right” and “good” is higher for the security force than the police force and the difference between these two forces is not much (5.4%) From these combined results, the solution that we propose is an overall improvement at each level, in each region, in and each force However more emphasis should be placed on the local level, on the north region, and on the police force Analysis of rating results according to constituents of the communicative culture: Truth is reflected in the seriousness, accuracy, standards and modernity in the management and performance of communicative culture Kindness manifests itself in the performance of communicative culture in a humanistic and democratic manner, in a relevant way to the situation and the national traditions Beauty is expressed by meeting aesthetic requirements towards the beauty in specific communicative behaviours and activities of officers in the people's public security force These qualities are analyzed in the integrated tables of survey findings The rating results are calculated by the ratio of the number of “all right” and “good” votes to the total number of votes Upon analysis of survey findings from Table 3.1 to Table 3.6 by constituent of communication culture, it can be seen that rating results according to the factors of Truth, Kindness, and Beauty are only moderate, in which Kindness and Beauty are rated higher than Truth This analysis serves as a basis for proposing 18 adjustments to the organizing activity for communicative culture, which needs more emphasis on standards, accuracy and responsibility Analysis of causes and guarantees for the communicative culture by the people’s public security: The table that integrates guarantees for effective communicative culture shows that the determinants are basically rated at moderate level This is the reason why the construction and implementation of communicative culture of the force are rated at moderate level Considering the relation between guarantees and the performance of communicative culture, we can see that the level of guarantees is directly proportional to the performance of communicative culture In particular, factors of assessment and training of forces are two factors that are underestimated CHAPTER GUIDELINES AND SOLUTIONS TO IMPROVING THE COMMUNICATIVE CULTURE BY THE PEOPLE’S PUBLIC SECURITY 4.1 Guidelines on the improvement of the communicative culture by the people’s public security Driven by objective circumstances and strategic goals of the Party and the State, based on the status of the organizational structure of the people's public security, it is necessary to build a guiding viewpoint on improving the communicative culture according to the following goals: Predicting the objective determinants on the communicative culture of the people's public security, properly and fully aware of the role of communicative culture in the building of the people's public security Defining the task of building and developing communicative culture for the people's public security as a strategic, important and regular task Ensure the rule of law state in the building of communicative culture in the people's public security 4.2 Refining regulation on communicative culture, associating organizational structure for implementation with the implementation of official culture project 4.2.1 Refining regulation on communicative culture Upon review of the legal document system, it is necessary to supplement the contents on communicative culture into the regulations The formulation of regulations on communicative activities should be agreed upon throughout the agency Regulations and policies on communicative activities within the agency may be formulated into a separate document, covering all aspects of the agency's communication activities with different audience or with a particular target In addition, agencies can also integrate regulations relevant to communication into the agency's operational regulations 19 Regulations on communication within agencies and units should be consistent with general provisions of the state, sector and locality In addition, each unit can build its own communication rules to ensure the specificity in performing its functions and tasks 4.2.2 Improving the organizational structure and responsibility for enforcement of regulations and policies on communication in the unit In order to organize the apparatus in charge of building the communicative culture, the public security force should better define the responsibilities for building and implementing a culture of communication at all levels, localities and in each unit, especially the responsibilities held by managerial levels Specifically, it is necessary to make sure and better define how to ensure responsibility as prescribed in the legal document on the responsibility for building communicative culture Individual cadres, civil servants and public employees shall fully implement the contents prescribed in the Code of Conduct by public officials Cadres, civil servants and public employees who participate in social activities must exhibit civilized and polite communication, conduct, and uniform in order to win people’s respect Agencies and units' leaders are held responsible for implementing and inspecting the enforcement of the Code of Conduct and communication regulations in the agencies and units 4.2.3 Study for implementing Project on the construction and implementation of official culture in the people’s public security It is necessary to define communicative culture in the people's public security as part of the official culture Therefore, the building of communicative culture is integral to the building and implementing of the official culture The Office of the Ministry of Public Security should think and advise the Ministry's leaders on measures to implement contents as specified in the Project on the construction and implementation of official culture issued together with Decision No 1847/QD-TTg dated 27/12/2018 by the Prime Minister 4.3 Strengthening the training of personnel for communicative culture 4.3.1 Formulating and implementing plans and movements for enforcement of communicative culture Strengthening the political and ideological education, promoting propaganda, forming a unity in awareness and actions for cadres and officers Adhering to and effectively implementing the Ministry of Public Security's programs and plans on political and ideological work Based on their tasks and specific requirements, the local public security shall specify Uncle Ho’s Commandments into standards and qualities to be held by officers and enact them into emulation standards The performance of Uncle Ho’s Commandments and the movement to follow Ho Chi Minh's moral example are important criteria for annual assessment and rating for individuals and collectives’ emulation; especially for assessing, appointing, dismissing, planning, rotation and secondment of officials 20 4.3.2 Study and training of communicative methods and skills for officers Contents of the training methodology are developed in the following directions: Method of vertical relationship with superiors, colleagues and subordinates: At work, communicative activities to serve the job are mandatory However, cadres and officers always need to show sincerity in this relationship to ensure effective work Resolving dissent from superiors: It is necessary to build the image of a serious and hard-working person who is not affected by emotions For subordinates: It is necessary to be able to motivate soldiers and to adopt appropriate confident attitude; listening to subordinates' opinions Promoting self-training to improve personal communicative capacity: One of the positive values in the communication with officials at the same level is to have a positive attitude towards the development and progress of the co-workers and team-mates Enhancing skills of communicating with people and foreigners: The communicative style brings about modern values, with receptive listening which is "modest and receptive of the right feedback"; Communicative style towards work efficiency and responsibility 4.3.3 Building the image of an exemplary leader in the communicative culture The leader of the force can only perform effective management of his unit's communication activities when he himself sets a good example of communication and builds a due and close relationship with his peers, superiors and subordinates Building credibility and image in communication: Special emphasis is on the first impression Sometimes, people are affected by their subjective emotions through observing or listening to a few words to define a person's image With bad first impression, people will steer clear from that person Therefore, attention should be paid to appearance, speech, and uniform The appearance should be compatible with the intrinsic values 4.4 Strengthening information, monitoring, evaluation and discipline relevant to the performance of communicative culture 4.4.1 Promoting the acquisition of, dealing with and reporting information on the ideology, ethics, lifestyle and manner of soldiers The task of grasping, dealing with and reporting information on the ideology, ethics, lifestyle and manner of soldiers is one of the core issues for leaders and managers to maintain close understanding of the reality of communicative culture by the people's public security, thereby devising and adopting appropriate methods to improve the communicative culture Issues to be grasped relevant to the ideology of cadres and soldiers: Regarding ethics and lifestyle: building a cultured lifestyle and polite behaviours exhibited by the people's public security officers and soldiers, a sense of serviceableness, mutual assistance within the unit, criticism and self-criticism Grasping and judging the ideology, manner and actions of officials and soldiers upon complaints and feedback on the mass media or press agencies related to the people’s public security Measures for grasping, dealing with and reporting on the ideology and behaviours of officers and soldiers of the people's public security: Direct, indirect and typical investigation 21 4.4.2 Strengthening the activities of speech, communication, information and reporting The strengthening of press information must ensure the following contents: To develop regulations on the press information in the Ministry, not to disclose information classified as state secrets and internal information in the process The Chief of the Ministry Office is a spokesman for the Ministry of Public Security The Ministry Office is the spokesman of the Ministry of Public Security, in charge of information contents and organizing for the ministry's press conference Regularly to review press information and give response on the press at the request of press agencies or as directed by the Prime Minister To request press agencies which have published or disseminate fake news and articles to rectify or to exercise the right to initiate a lawsuit at court in compliance with the law Establishing good relations with the mass media and implementing speech regulations Reactive and untimely instructions to deliver speech result in unsatisfactory information transfer, causing negative effects Fear and unpreparation should be overcome in the delivery of speech to provide information for the press Spokesperson should be well-trained in speaking and communication with the press There is a need for smooth coordination between agencies to divide and assign tasks to ensure consensus on the same issue so as not to shirk the responsibility for informing the press Communication on the internet The Ministry Office organizes for the construction and management of a shared database system in the people's public security Local advisory agencies in the people's public security shall provide information at the request of competent authorities 4.4.3 Strengthening the monitoring, evaluation and discipline relevant to the performance of communicative culture Methods of monitoring and evaluating of the implementation of regulations on communication Compliance with regulations on communication must be assessed regularly, objectively and adequately The responsibility for inspection rests with the leadership of the agency and the unit holding direct management of the officials However, more actors need to be involved in the monitoring and evaluation of the implementation of communication regulations to ensure objective information: First of all, the monitoring must be conducted by the internal personnel; Second is citizens, partners and representatives with which the unit establishes transaction; Third is the evaluation of superior leaders for the implementation of the unit's code of conduct Handling violations of the Code of conduct and regulations on official communication: It is necessary to enforce strong sanctions, and to examine and handle violations of the Code of conduct as applied to cadres and civil servants Regarding the sanctions against 22 violations of the Code of conduct and communication by cadres and civil servants: For cadres, civil servants, and public employees: Cadres, civil servants and public employees who violate the Regulation shall, subject to the extent to which they commit violations, be handled according to the law or examined for penal liability For the head and deputy heads of the agency and unit directly managing and employing cadres, civil servants and public employees: Subject to the extent to which cadres, civil servants and public employees commit violations, the head and deputy heads of the respective agencies or units shall be disciplined according to the law Establishing a system of criteria for evaluating communicative culture: It is necessary for the public security’s leadership to apply a democratic process and organize for developing criteria to evaluate the communicative culture according to the characteristics and specific requirements of the force, in consistence with the criteria of the state administrative system Below is the Proposal of criteria for evaluating the most common contents of public security’s communicative culture The organization department shall be in charge of evaluation The set of evaluation criteria can be divided into some tables Sample of evaluation criteria for communicative culture CONCLUSION The communicative culture in the people's public security forces is a system of values that governs the awareness, attitudes and behaviours of police individuals and organizations (agencies) the relations between man, between man and the nature, the society and himself It reflects extent to which the revolutionary People's Public Security develops in response to the requirements for social development Cultured communication by the people's public security demonstrates the level, capacity, and style of law enforcement, creating credibility and winning trust from the people, an important condition to successfully fulfil the assigned tasks The communicative culture by the people’s public security has changed a lot in daily communication, in the performance of duties, in transaction with people, guest reception, welcoming delegations, handling work However, the implementation of communicative culture has neither been intensive nor extensive, with limited effectiveness It is because some party committees and heads of units have not paid due attention to leading and directing the movement They have also failed to build movements for cadres and officers to follow There exist a number of public security officers who are not fully and profoundly aware of this issue, who exhibit egalitarian and rightist spirit, violate the discipline, morality, behaviour and lifestyle They manifest authoritarian, bossy and harassing attitudes that trouble people; particularly in some cases where they are handled by law, which has undermine the work quality and efficiency and the people's confidence in the force Improving the communicative culture for the people’s public security is a regular and particularly important task and demand in order to raise the awareness of strict 23 observance of orders, to improve the communicative skills and conduct, and behaviour It will help to develop a cultured lifestyle for each officer and soldier, which acts to build an increasingly clean and strong public security force to meet the requirements of the country for sustainable development in the contemporary time Improving the communicative culture in the people’s public security is aimed to raise officers and soldiers’ awareness of their working style and the humanity in operational activities, whereby building a strong political stance for them, raising their revolutionary ethics, averting moral and ideological decline, lifestyle deterioration By doing so, it will help cadres and officers to apply their behavioural lessons in daily their jobs and activities to achieve the ultimate goal of serving the people better and better 24 ... provinces and cities including Hanoi, Ho Chi Minh City, Hai Phong, Da Nang, Can Tho, Thai Nguyen, Vinh Phuc, Bac Ninh, Quang Ninh, Thanh Hoa, Nghe An, Thua Thien Hue, Quang Ngai, Binh Dinh, Khanh Hoa,... accuracy, standards and modernity in the management and performance of communicative culture Kindness manifests itself in the performance of communicative culture in a humanistic and democratic manner,... adopted old criteria and standards, with virtually unchanged methods and measures 12 Meanwhile, social practices have changed greatly and quickly, resulting in many outdated criteria and models of the