Healthy populations, political stability, and regime type: Southeast Asia as a case study

Abstract

Over the past decade, there have been increased attempts to understand the contributing factors to the relationship between healthy populations (that is, populations that have long life expectancy from birth), the prevention of conflict, and governance regimes that enable 'healthy nations' to survive and thrive. These studies have been largely informed by longitudinal studies on the positive relationship between regime type, provision of health care, and conflict prevention. This article examines what insights a comparison of postconflict countries in a regional setting may provide to challenge or indeed extend the findings advanced so far in the literature on the relationship between regime type and health insecurity. The Southeast Asian experience confirms the obvious - that the cessation of armed conflict is related to improved health outcomes. However, it challenges presumptions that democratisation plays a significant role in shaping this relationship.