This thesis focuses on the study of factionalism in the Communist Party of Vietnam and relates it to the recent problems of the Vietnamese regime. In order to determine the causes of the current crisis in Vietnam and introduce the environment in which Vietnamese elites operate, this study analyses both formal and informal structures of the political system of Vietnam and the principles of their functioning. This thesis criticizes misleading usage of faction as an analytical tool in the works on Vietnam and presents Andrew Nathan's factional model elaborated for China which is applied to Vietnam in a slightly changed form. We present evidence showing that the central political arena in Vietnam displays factional characteristics. Those findings are linked to the problem immobilism in Vietnam which is connected with instability caused by the absence of political initiatives and needed reforms (mainly the political one). Attention is also drawn to the need for the development of a theory of factionalism. Key words: The Communist Party of Vietnam, factional theories, political system of Vietnam

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