The Political Economy of Health: Bringing Political Science In

Abstract

The public’s health is intimately linked to politics and policy. But political science has yet to make a major contribution to understanding the political economy of health (as distinct from medical care). In order to advance understanding of the drivers of health in an era of emerging infectious disease and global pandemics, more political scientists must begin to do what we are uniquely well situated to do: analyze in a contextualized way the pathways and mechanisms through which power configurations cause illness and inequity. This article reviews key findings from recent literature about the policy, political, and structural contributors to population health and health equity and sketches what a political economy of health more deeply rooted in political science could look like.