Vietnam’s National Assembly last week ratified a new constitution, but there is little cause for celebration because the political system that permitted the constitutional abuses remains unchanged. That is a disappointment. The government solicited comments from the public, reportedly receiving millions of responses demanding change. The lawmakers ignored a petition from 72 scholars and intellectuals to the Constitutional Amendment Drafting Committee, leaving flagging, bloated and unprofitable state-owned enterprises in place and ignoring calls for liberalization that would allow for foreign investment, which would bring rationality to the economy. Instead, the socialist-oriented market economy remains in place.