The Political Economy of Health and Healthcare: The Rise of the Patient Citizen

By: Joan Costa-Font and Gilberto Turati and Alberto Batinti

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Synopsis: The healthcare sector is one of the fastest growing areas of social and public spending worldwide, and it is expected to receive an increase in government shares of GDP in the near future. Truly global in its scope, this book present a unified, structured understanding of how the design of a country's health institutions influence its healthcare activities and outcomes. Building on the 'public choice' tradition in political economy, the authors explore how patient-citizens interact with their country's political institutions to determine policies, alongside the influence of other forces, such as federalism, collective action, electoral competition, constitutional designs, political ideologies, corruption, lobbying and the dynamics of change. Whilst drawing on the theoretical concepts of political economy, this book describes the institution-grounded health systems in an accessible way. It will appeal to undergraduate and graduate students studying health economics, health policy and public policy.