Book contents
- The Political Economy of Health and Healthcare
- The Political Economy of Health and Healthcare
- Copyright page
- Contents
- Figures
- Tables
- Preface
- Part I Political Incentives in Healthcare Systems
- Part II The Political Contexts of Healthcare Policies
- Part III Political Institutions and Health
- 4 Constitutional Health System Design
- 5 Democracy and the Patient Citizen
- 6 Theory of Political Markets in Healthcare
- 7 Ideology and Healthcare
- Part IV Political Allocation in Healthcare
- Bibliography
- Index
5 - Democracy and the Patient Citizen
from Part III - Political Institutions and Health
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 08 May 2020
- The Political Economy of Health and Healthcare
- The Political Economy of Health and Healthcare
- Copyright page
- Contents
- Figures
- Tables
- Preface
- Part I Political Incentives in Healthcare Systems
- Part II The Political Contexts of Healthcare Policies
- Part III Political Institutions and Health
- 4 Constitutional Health System Design
- 5 Democracy and the Patient Citizen
- 6 Theory of Political Markets in Healthcare
- 7 Ideology and Healthcare
- Part IV Political Allocation in Healthcare
- Bibliography
- Index
Summary
The organisation of health services tends to reflect the values and priorities of each population. However, as we discussed in 2006), which influence the way the patient citizen (PC) expresses its demands for healthcare. As discussed in Chapter 4, the constitutional design of a country – including the electoral rules, the division of powers and the role of the judiciary – adds additional veto players into the health system reform process, and often extra ‘checks and balances’ that are not always in the interest of the PC. At the core of those institutions lie the mechanisms of accountability (to the PC) and representation (of the view of the PC). That is, a well-functioning democracy would be one where healthcare decisions are the expression of the PC’s demands. Such demands are typically revealed through electoral processes (which turn heterogeneous preferences into political mandates), as we discuss later in Chapter 6. However, as a first step to understand how health policy choices are made, we discuss whether and how democratic decision-making, unlike other political collective decision-making systems, affects the health system.
- Type
- Chapter
- Information
- The Political Economy of Health and HealthcareThe Rise of the Patient Citizen, pp. 91 - 107Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2020