RC25 - Politics of Health Policy

Watch this space for RC25 activities in 2026

Helen Jordan — Wed, 25 Feb 2026 01:45:00 -0500

RC25 activities planned for 2026 include the introduction of a regular online seminar program on the Politics of Health Policy and a schedule of 5-minute thesis presentations (including prizes) for PhD students researching topics that fit within the theme of the politics of health policy.

Dates and how you can participate will be provided soon.

RC25 Introduction 2026

Helen Jordan — Wed, 25 Feb 2026 01:25:00 -0500

As of December 2025, the RC25, formerly titled Comparative Health Policy, was renamed Politics of Health Policy.

The current RC25 Board includes:

Co-chairs

A/Prof. Helen Jordan, University of Melbourne
h.jordan@unimelb.edu.au

Prof Haejoo Chung, Korea University
hpolicy@korea.ac.kr

Secretary

A/Prof Fang-Yi Huang, Soochow University, Taiwan

Board Members

Dr Zoheb Khan, Brazilian Center of Analysis and Planning (CEBRAP), Brazil
Dr Vera Schattan Ruas Pereira Coelho, University of Sao Paulo, Brazil
Prof Monika Steffen, University Grenoble-Alpes/School of Political Studies, France
Dr Eunju Kang, Rochester Institute of Technolgy, United States
A/Prof Justin Parkurst, London School of Economics and Political Science, United Kingdom

We have an exciting program of activities lined up for 2026 and you will be notified in due course.

If you are interested in joining the RC25 please contact the secretary of RC25 via: fyhuang1981@gmail.com

RC25 Business Meeting on 9 July 2012 at the 22nd World Congress of Political Science

James Björkman — Tue, 07 Aug 2012 16:42:00 +0200

Business Meeting of Research Committee 25 on Comparative Health Policy

22nd World Congress of the International Political Science Association (Madrid)

9 July 2012, 17.00-18.30 hours

Agenda (with notations)

1. Welcome with round-robin of introductions by the N=30+ members attending the business meeting in Tutorial Room 23-A of Complutense University’s School of Pharmacy.

2. Oral report on RC25 website that became operational in mid-2008 (http://rc25.ipsa.org). Members are urged to check it periodically for news and updates.

3. Activities co-organized by RC25 since the 20th IPSA World Congress in Fukuoka (Japan) in 2006 include the following series of conferences, roundtables and panels:

· New Delhi (India), 15-16 October 2007, conference on "Comparative Health Policies within Welfare States in Developing Societies" hosted by Delhi University's Faculty of Management Studies and co-sponsored by RC39 (Welfare States in Developing Societies); 16 papers (five panels)

· Bellville (South Africa), 3-4 March 2008, conference on "Comparative Health Policies" co-sponsored by the South African chapter of OSSREA -- Organization for Social Science Research in Eastern and Southern Africa; 16 papers (six panels)

· The Hague (The Netherlands), 10-12 November 2008, conference on "Comparative Health Policies" co-sponsored by the Institutes of Social Studies; 15 papers (five panels)

· Rio de Janeiro (Brazil), 11-12 March 2009, conference on "Politics of Health and Social Protection" co-sponsored by Escola Nacional de Saúde Pública -- Brazil's National School of Public Health; 18 papers (six panels)

· Santiago (Chile), 12-16 July 2009, IPSA's 21st World Congress; 12 papers (four panels)

· Baltimore (USA), 21-22 October 2010, conference on "Improving Access and Relating Access to Outcomes in National Health Systems" at the University of Maryland's Global Health Resources Center; 12 papers (three panels)

· Varna (Bulgaria), 18-22 May 2011, conference on "Comparative Health Reforms in Central and Eastern Europe since 1990" co-sponsored by the Network of Institutes and Schools of Public Administration in Central and Eastern Europe (NISPAcee); 10 papers (two panels)

· Madrid (Spain), 8-12 July 2012, IPSA's 21st World Congress; 19 papers (five panels); more than 50 persons attended these sessions and all will be invited to join the research committee

4. During calendar 2009 RC25 underwent a rigorous review by IPSA’s Committee on Research and Training, after which it received re-authorization for six more years of operations until 2015.

5. RC25 Chair Jim Björkman formally and warmly thanked the two Vice-chairs during 2009-2012 – Jeni Vaitsman in Brazil and Pieter Fourie in South Africa – as well as all RC25 members for their cooperation and good will.

6. The newly elected RC25 officers were then installed: Chair Kieke Okma (Netherlands/USA), Vice-chairs Pieter Fourie (South Africa) and Lenaura Lobato (Brazil).

7. The RC25 Business Meeting was adjourned at 18.30 hours.

RC25 Panels at IPSA's 22nd World Congress in Madrid (8-12 July 2012)

James Björkman — Sun, 18 Mar 2012 14:54:00 +0100

The provisional program-schedule of the 22^nd World Congress is on-line but here is a summary of the five panels organized by RC25 – followed by information on another panel organized by SG19.

8 July (Sunday) 15.00-16.45

Policy Analysis, Health Politics and Policy Change: Values, Ideas and Policies

(Chair: Theodore Marmor; Co-chair & Discussant: Shelby Hockenberry; Discussant: Pieter Fourie)

SCHOOL OF PHARMACY / FACULTAD DE FARMACIA - Classroom 223

· Reforms and New Public Management in the French Healthcare System (Monika Steffen)

· Cross-border Perceptions of US and Canadian Health Care Systems (François Petry; Nadeau Richard; Éric Bélanger)

· Divided and Universal: Gradual Changes in Japanese Health Insurance (Ryozo Matsuda)

· Fertilize This: Comparing Decision-making Processes in the Regulation of Infertility Treatments Provision in Canada and Britain (Audrey L’Espérance)

· Pay for Performance: Physician’s Involvement in P4P System Design (Christiaan Lako; Pauline Rosenau)

· Politics and Policy Analysis: The Field of “Collective Health” in Brazil (Jeni Vaitsman; José Mendes Ribeiro; Lenaura Lobato)

9 July (Monday) 09.00-10.45

Comparative Health Policy: Foundations, Foibles and Futures

(Chair: James Björkman; Discussant: Christa Altenstetter)

SCHOOL OF JOURNALISM / FACULTAD DE CIENCAS DE LA INFORMACION - Classroom 8

· Abortion in Western European Health Systems (Deborah McFarlane, Dominika Ornatowska)

· "Consumer-driven Health Care" in Switzerland and The Netherlands: Much Discussed, but Much Misunderstood (Kieke Okma)

· Critique of Basic Universalism: Guidelines for Comparative Research between Chile and Argentina (Paula Ferro Ariella; Marisol Mancini)

· Federalism and Social Justice in Health Financing and Provision in Brazil (Nilson Costa)

· Marketization of Public Health Services? Comparing Public Hospital Service Policies in Germany and France via their Instrumentation (Renate Reiter)

· The Promises and Pitfalls of Comparative Policy Studies in Health Care (Theodore Marmor)

9 July (Monday) 11.00-12.45

Policy Analysis, Health Politics & Policy Change: Arguments, Evidence and Policies

(Chair: Monika Steffen; Co-chair: Jeni Vaitsman; Discussants: Iris Geva-May; Lenaura Lobato)

SCHOOL OF JOURNALISM / FACULTAD DE CIENCAS DE LA INFORMACION - Classroom 8

· Coalitions of Policy Change in Health Care and Public Health (Dorte Hering)

· Constructing Knowledge on Hospital Activity in France: A Co-production of State and Academia (Renaud Gay)

· Health Policy and Health Reform in Russia: Problem Solving or Problem Making? (Tatiana Chubarova; Natalia Grigorieva)

· Hygiene Inspection Disclosure System as an Instrument to Improve Public Health (Anne Lévy; Markus Gmür)

· Introducing Economic and Managerial Knowledge within Health Policy instruments: France, England and Germany (Magali Robelet; Patrick Hassenteufel; Daniel Benamouzig)

· The Role of Evidence in HIV Policy in Switzerland: A Success Story? (Kathrin Frey)

9 July (Monday) 13.00-14.45

The Changing Architecture of Global Health Governance

(Chair: Pieter Fourie; Co-chair: Pauline Rosenau; Discussant: Kieke Okma)

SCHOOL OF JOURNALISM / FACULTAD DE CIENCAS DE LA INFORMACION - Classroom 8

· Global Health Governance and the African Postcolonial State (Ricardo Pereira)

· Global Health Regimes in Promoting Policy Transfer: The Role of the WHO and Private Actors in the Diffusion of E-health Policies (Achim Lang)

· Regulatory Policy of Medical Technology. Demystifying the Role of the FDA, 1976-2011 (Christa Altenstetter)

· The Emergence of Surge Capacities in Pandemics: A Comparative Epidemic Policy Analysis from SARS to H1N1 in Taiwan and Singapore (Allen Lai)

· The Impact of Economic Uncertainty and Grant Mismanagement on the Role of Public-Private Partnerships in Addressing Global Health Policy: The Global Fund in Times of Change (Shelby Hockenberry)

· The Politics of Pre-Empting Poor Pharmaceutical Patents: Brazil, India, and Beyond (Kenneth Shadlen)

9 July (Monday) 15.00-16.45

Patient Empowerment and Democratic Policy: Political Challenges and Theoretical Issues (co-sponsored by RC25 & RC32)

(Chair: Fabrizio Cantelli; Co-chair: James Björkman; Discussant: Naonori Kodate)

SCHOOL OF JOURNALISM / FACULTAD DE CIENCAS DE LA INFORMACION - Classroom 12

· Broadening the Patient Safety Discourse: Theorizing Patient and Public Involvement as Empowerment (Josephine Ocloo)

· Consumer Empowerment in U.S. Federal Government Health Sector Organizations (Pauline Rosenau, Christina Daw; David Buck)

· Is Empowerment Possible in Professional Practice? (Per-Anders Tengland)

· Perceived Ethnicity: Reversing the Patient-Provider Relationship (Dorothée Prud'homme)

· Reforming the Welfare State in the Age of Financial Crises: How Personalization of Social Care is Quietly Revolutionizing Welfare Provision (Barry Macleod-Cullinane)

· Towards a Politics of Vitality: New Ways to Understand Patients’ Activism (Jorge Castillo Sepúlveda; Patricia Núñez; Francisco Tirado)

ADDITIONAL PANEL FROM RESEARCH COMMITTEE 19 ON GENDER POLITICS & POLICY

12 July (Thursday) 11.00-12.45

Comparative Health Politics and Policy (Chair: Patrick Hassenteufel)

SCHOOL OF JOURNALISM / FACULTAD DE CIENCAS DE LA INFORMACION - Classroom 13

· A Fresh Look at Health Legacy Foundations: Philanthropy, Public Policy and Hospital Conversions in the Aftermath of the ACA (Sabrina Niggel; William Brandon)

· Health Care Governance in Federal Systems: Can Europe's Experimental Governance Models Work in Canada? (Katherine Fierlbeck)

· Introducing Economic and Managerial Knowledge within Health Policy Instruments: A Comparison between France, England & Germany (Patrick Hassenteufel) – NB: identical title in RC25 panel on 9 July at 11.00

· Japan’s Healthcare Reform from a Comparative Perspective (Toshiyuki Nishikawa)

· The Effects of Contracts on Health Policy: The Case of Primary Health Care in Spain (Rosario Morillo Balado)

Note: the author of this panel’s second paper – Katherine Fierlbeck, Professor at Canada’s Dalhousie University – is an RC25 member and last year published Health Care in Canada: A Citizen’s Guide to Policy and Politics (University of Toronto Press, 2011), ISBN 9781442609839. Its blurb notes that the book examines the pressures faced by the Canadian health care system [and] explores how health care decisions are shaped by politics and why there is so much disagreement over how to fix the system.

Deadlines for IPSA World Congress -- Finalized Abstracts (30 March 2012) and Uploaded Papers (1 June 2012)

James Björkman — Sun, 18 Mar 2012 14:51:00 +0100

As advised by IPSA HQ, the deadline to finalize on-line abstract descriptions is 30 March 2012. Please note that abstracts of all papers will be included on a USB memory-stick to be distributed at the 22^nd World Congress in Madrid to onsite-participants.

Also please note that an abstract-title is limited to 125 characters (including spaces) and should not include quotation marks nor a period (full-stop) at its end. There is a limit of 1,500 characters for an abstract (approximately 250 words); longer descriptions will be automatically truncated.

Any modification of your proposal should be done through your IPSA account by logging on the IPSA website at http://ipsa.org/my-ipsa/events/madrid2012. Once logged in, select Madrid 2012 on the menu-bar; click on List of your abstracts; select your abstract title and click Edit (top-left) to make changes in the title or text.

Please also note that the deadline for uploading the complete version of your paper is 1 June 2012. Guidelines for the written paper are as follows: no more than 25 pages; single-spaced on A4 or your local equivalent; and uploaded in PDF format.

UPDATE: RC25 Officers 2012-2015

James Björkman — Sun, 18 Mar 2012 14:48:00 +0100

The deadline for nominations for RC25 officers has been postponed from 31 March to 30 April – at the request of IPSA HQ in Montreal because the relevant issue of PARTICIPATION had been delayed.

Please send your nominations to Professor Olivier Nay (o.nay@free.fr) who agreed to serve as Returning Officer.

Remember that the three positions to be filled for a three-year term (2012-2015) are a new RC chair and two RC vice-chairs.

Process of Selecting RC25 Officers for 2012-2015

James Björkman — Sun, 08 Jan 2012 11:42:00 +0100

The RC25 Executive Board has three members – a Chair and two Vice-Chairs. Because the terms of the current officers will expire at the 22^nd IPSA World Congress in Madrid, nominations are solicited for the three positions.

Having served two terms of office since the 2006 World Congress in Fukuoka, the current RC25 Chair – Jim Björkman – is ineligible for re-nomination. All other RC25 Members are eligible to hold office during the next three-year period (2012-2015).

Nominations for RC25 Chair and two Vice-Chairs should be sent no later than 31 March 2012 to Professor Olivier Nay at: o.nay@free.fr

During May 2012 the members of RC25 will vote electronically for the three positions on the Executive Board, and those elected will take office at the World Congress in Madrid.

RC25 Panels to be presented at IPSA's 22nd World Congress in Madrid

James Björkman — Sun, 08 Jan 2012 11:32:00 +0100

RC25 Panels at IPSA’s 22^nd World Congress of Political Science

Madrid, Spain (8-12 July 2012)

Comparative Health Policy: Foundations, Foibles and Futures

Chair: James Björkman (The Netherlands)

Discussant: Christa Altenstetter (USA)

Synopsis: Comparison is a method rather than substance per se so every topic in health policy can be subsumed within the rubric of comparative enquiry. Comparison examines similarities and differences in the objects or subjects being investigated. When the latter have few or no differences among them, they are expected to act in a predictable way. When things differ greatly, then their behavior cannot be predicted because each set of objects or subjects is unique and incapable of generalization. Comparison is “a discovery of those relations, either constant or inconstant, which two or more objects bear to each other” (David Hume 1985:121). For a quarter-century IPSA’s Research Committee 25 has engaged in comparative analyses of health policies, yet there is a substantial gap between promise and performance. Unwarranted inferences, rhetorical distortion, and caricatures often appear in comparative health policy scholarship and debates. The purpose of this panel is to explore methodological questions raised by these weaknesses in international comparisons of health policy.

Ø The Promises and Pitfalls of Comparative Policy Studies in Health Care, Theodore Marmor (United States)

Ø Critique of Basic Universalism: Guidelines for Comparative Research between Chile and Argentina, Paula Ferro Ariella (Argentina)

Ø Abortion in Western European Health Systems, Deborah McFarlane (United States)

Ø Federalism and Social Justice in Health Financing and Provision in Brazil, Nilson Costa (Brazil)

Ø ‘Consumer-driven Health Care’ in Switzerland and The Netherlands: Much Discussed but Much Misunderstood, Kieke Okma (United States)

Ø ‘Marketization’ of Public Health Services? Comparing PublicHospital Service Policies in Germany and France, Renate Reiter (Germany)

Patient Empowerment and Democratic Policy: Political Challenges and Theoretical Issues (co-sponsored with RC32 on Comparative Public Policy and the Public Policy Group of the Belgian Political Science Association)

Chair: Fabrizio Cantelli (Belgium)

Co-chair: James Björkman (The Netherlands)

Discussant: Naonori Kodate (United Kingdom)

Synopsis: There is an inherent tension between the democratic value of equality and the evidence of inequality in practice – for example, in the workplace and the family. The late 20^th century has seen significant mobilization of state authority to redress some of this inequality, but medical treatment remains a problematic area because the doctor/ patient relationship is inherently unequal – even if a patient hires the services of a doctor. Hospital patients are regarded as having little knowledge of their needs and even less capacity to determine what will happen to them. This situation is being challenged by paradigm shifts in health care. One is the spread of discourses of participation and empowerment in governing. Another is the rationalization of medical care, the codification of what was formerly the personal exercise of professional skills, involving changes in the power relations within the hospital. There is also increasing stress on health as the management of the self rather than the professional provision of curative services, as well as recognition that long-term conditions like diabetes require a care regime with the active involvement (not just compliance) of the patient and his/her support team.

Ø Broadening the Patient Safety Discourse: Theorizing Patient and Public Involvement as Empowerment, Josephine Ocloo (United Kingdom)

Ø Empowerment through Choice? How a Social Movement Challenging Professional Dominance Embraced Market-type Mechanisms to Achieve Collective Empowerment, Timothy Tenbensel (New Zealand)

Ø Is Empowerment Possible in Professional Practice? Per-Anders Tengland (Sweden)

Ø Patient Empowerment in the US Health Sector, Pauline Rosenau, Christina Daw and David Buck (United States)

Ø Perceived Ethnicity: Reversing the Patient-Provider Relationship, Dorothée Prud’homme (France)

Ø Towards a Politics of Vitality: New Ways to Understand Patients’ Activism, Jorge Castillo Sepúlveda, Patricia Núñez and Francisco Tirado (Spain)

Policy Analysis, Health Politics and Policy Change: Values, Ideas and Policies

Chair: Theodore Marmor (United States)

Discussant: Shelby Hockenberry (United States)

Synopsis: Policy analysis focuses on how public policies are ‘informed’ and how the information process impacts on policy content. Policy analysis therefore comprehends a wide range of studies, including the impact of academic research and other kinds of knowledge and information produced by different actors, in different conditions, in governmental as well as non-governmental sectors, many of them searching to influence the policy process. This influence may range from political and technical arguments added to policy debates to the provision of information to be used by policymakers in their decisions.

Ø Reforms and New Public Management in the French Health Care System, Monika Steffen (France)

Ø Co-evolution of Public Health and Health Care, Philipp Trein (Switzerland)

Ø Cross-border Perceptions of US and Canadian Health Care Systems, François Petry (Canada)

Ø Divided and Universal: Gradual Changes in Japanese Health Insurance, Ryozo Matsuda (Japan)

Ø Pay for Performance: Physicians’ Involvement in P4P System Design, Christiaan Lako (The Netherlands)

Ø Politics and Policy Analysis: The Field of ‘Collective Health’ in Brazil, Jeni Vaitsman (Brazil)

Policy Analysis, Health Politics and Policy Change: Arguments, Evidence and Policies

Chair: Monika Steffen (France)

Co-chair: Jeni Vaitsman (Brazil)

Discussants: Iris Geva-May (Canada); Lenaura Lobato (Brazil)

Synopsis: This panel aims at introducing policy analysis in the health policy field. It will address the capacity of different actors or organizations such as academics, social movements, advocacy groups, governmental or non-governmental organizations, etc, to influence health policy processes by the production of basic, relevant or strategic information. Papers approach different aspects of this theme: the political, institutional, normative and cultural constraints on health policy analysis under which different actors and agencies operate when producing policy-oriented information as well as their impact and effects on policies and policy change; the social and political constraints framing health policy analysis in different national contexts; the specific conditions that promote or hinder the transfer of knowledge towards policies and decision-making in the health field.

Ø Coalition of Policy Change in Health Care and Public Health, Dorte Hering (Switzerland)

Ø Constructing Knowledge on Hospital Activity in France: A Co-production of State and Academia, Renaud Gay (France)

Ø Health Policy and Health Reform in Russia: Problem-solving or Problem-making? Tatiana Chubarova (Russia)

Ø Hygiene Inspection Disclosure System as an Instrument to Improve Public Health, Anne Lévy (

Ø Introducing Economic and Managerial Knowledge within Health Policy Instruments: France, England and Germany, Magali Robelet (France)

Ø The Role of Evidence in HIV Policy in Switzerland: A Success Story? Kathrin Frey (Switzerland)

The Changing Architecture of Global Health Governance

Chair: Pieter Fourie (South Africa)

Co-chair: Pauline Rosenau (United States)

Discussant: Kieke Okma (United States)

Synopsis: The pendulum of global health governance is swinging rapidly. In the realm of ideas, the move rom the post-World War II biomedical governance model to the socio-behavioral model seemed to conclude with the 1972 Alma Ata Declaration. However, medical triumphalism is making a dramatic comeback. During the past decade, global health governance has come to refer to mechanisms of surveillance in terms of the post-9/11 securitization fad as well as the institutions established transnationally. The Paris Declaration (2005) framework on global development aid was intended to create a global health governance architecture that would be democratic, consultative and in tune with the health governance realities of developing countries. However, this aspiration has derailed as donors in the global north shift their priorities. Even funding and governance architecture for the AIDS pandemic (the ‘donor darling’ of recent years) has become unattractive. Given the flux in global health governance, this panel features papers that address, describe and explain tensions that shape and determine governance modalities.

Ø Global Health Governance and the African Postcolonial State, Ricardo Pereira (Portugal)

Ø Global Health Régimes in Promoting Policy Transfer: The Role of the WHO and Private Actors in the Diffusion of e-Health Policies, Achim Lang (Germany)

Ø Regulatory Policy of Medical Technology: Demystifying the Role of the FDA, 1976-2011, Christa Altenstetter (United States)

Ø The Emergence of Surge Capacities in Pandemics: A Comparative Epidemic Policy Analysis from SARS to H1N1 in Taiwan and Singapore, Allen Lai (Singapore)

Ø The Impact of Economic Uncertainty and Grant Mismanagement on the Role of Public-Private Partnerships in Addressing Global Health Policy: The Global Fund in Times of Change, Shelby Hockenberry (United States)

Ø The Politics of Pre-empting Poor Pharmaceutical Patents: Brazil, India and Beyond, Kenneth Shadlen (United Kingdom)

Invitation to submit paper proposals to RC25 panels that are in the process of formation

James Björkman — Sat, 04 Jun 2011 17:22:00 +0200

IPSA’s Research Committee on Comparative Health Policy (RC25) invites the submission of proposals for papers that may be included in one of the following panels which are currently being formed. If you are interested in participating in any of these panels, please contact the named convenor or convenors at her/his/their email address provided in parentheses.

Health Policy Analysis, Health Politics and Policy Change

– Jeni Vaitsman (vaitsman@uol.com.br) & Monika Steffen (monika.steffen@iep-grenoble.fr)

The Changing Architecture of Global Health Governance

–Pieter Fourie (ppfourie@gmail.com)

Comparative Health Policy: Foundations, Foibles and Futures

–Jim Björkman (bjorkman@iss.nl)

Patient Empowerment and Democratic Policy: Political Challenges and Theoretical Issues (jointly co-organized by RC32, Belgium’s Public Policy Group, & RC25)

– Hal Colebatch (hal@colebatch.com), Fabrizio Cantelli (fabrizio.cantelli@ulb.ac.be) & Jim Björkman (bjorkman@iss.nl)

Please note: RC25 welcomes additional proposals for panels from its members & associates so do not hesitate to continue the process! And if not a proposal for a full panel, then propose a topic for a paper that would provide a vehicle for your interests and research.

Report on RC25 Regional Meeting in Bulgaria during 19-22 May 2011

James Björkman — Sat, 04 Jun 2011 16:38:00 +0200

During 19-22 May 2011, RC25 organized a regional meeting in Varna on Bulgaria's Black Sea coast in conjunction with the annual conference of the Network of Institutes and Schools of Public Administration in Central and Eastern Europe (NISPAcee). Following a series of health policy panels at previous NISPAcee conferences (Bratislava, Slovakia, 2008; Budva, Montenegro, 2009; Warsaw, Poland, 2010), two panels were organized on Comparative Health Reforms in Central and Eastern Europe since 1990. The following nine papers were presented (one in absentia):

Ø Health Reforms in the Czech Republic – Marek Pavlík, Zuzana Darmopilová & Ivan Malý (Masaryk University)

Ø Health Care Reforms: Hungary (1990-2010) – Sándor Gallai(Corvinus University of Budapest)

Ø Bulgaria: Country Profile on Health Care – Milena Vladimirova & Georg Manliev (Technical University of Sofia); Todorka Kostadinova & N. Fescieva (University of Medicine – Varna)

Ø Health Care Reforms in Slovakia – Juraj Nemeč(University of Matej Bel)

Ø Review and Analysis of the Health Care System in Slovenia: 1980-2010 – Stanka Setnikar Cankar & Veronika Petkovšek (University of Ljubljana)

Ø Patterns of Health Care Reforms in Economies under Transition: The Case of Russia – Tatiana Chubarova(Russian Academy of Sciences)

Ø Public Administration in the Republic of Macedonia: Necessity and Future Challenge – Branko Dimeski, Aleksandra Patoska & Violeta Panovska Boskoska(St Kliment Ohridski University)

Ø Successes and Challenges of Health Reforms in Armenia – Lianna Mkhitaryan(AdInfoSys Management Institute)

Ø Health Care Reform: Campaigning versus Governing – Marian Palley (University of Delaware) & Howard Palley (University of Maryland)

These papers plus those presented at previous meetings will provide the basis for an edited volume that maps the contours of health policy in the region during the past 20-25 years.

Procedures for Participation at IPSA's 22nd World Congress in Madrid (8-12 July 2012)

James Björkman — Sat, 04 Jun 2011 16:13:00 +0200

As things are getting underway for the 22nd IPSA World Congress to be held in Madrid during 8-12 July 2012, please find below the procedures for participation at the Congress through RC25. These rules are based on the instructions from IPSA headquarters to all Research Committees-- and please note that the Program Chair (PC) for the World Congress is Wyn Grant who can be reached at W.P.Grant@warwick.ac.uk

1. All RCs have the obligation of organizing a minimum of two (2) panels. One must be an independently organized panel. The second may be a joint session, co-organized with other research committees or sub-sections of national political science associations. Possible further panels are free of rules. The ceiling of four panels per RC (effective until 2009) no longer applies.

2. Non-members of RCs are encouraged to participate in RC sessions. The names of all RCs and an invitation to non-members to submit paper proposals to the RC Chairs will be displayed on the IPSA Congress website as of 31 August 2011. The deadline to submit RC panel proposals is 18 August 2011 (see below).

3. The organization of RC panels -- including reviewing submitted paper proposals and deciding on their acceptance -- is the responsibility of the RC Chair. In case an RC Chair names a convenor different from herself or himself, the RC Chair must inform both the World Congress Manager and the RC Liaison Officer by 7 October 2011 at the latest.

4. When a panel is completed and ready to be incorporated in the Congress Program, it must be sent via the panel submission form on the Congress website. The person submitting the panel must be the same person as in point 3. In addition, each paper presented in the panel needs to be submitted individually by the paper giver. Individuals submitting a paper will have the opportunity at that time to indicate that their paper has already been accepted for an RC panel.

5. Occasionally papers which seem appropriate for an RC session arrive through the open-call route used for congress sessions. The PC may submit some of the proposals that have been received to the consideration of the RC chairs for inclusion in their panels. The RC chair may decide to incorporate such a proposal into an RC panel or return it to the PC for inclusion in other congress sessions. The following note will be included on the Abstract Submission webpage: "Submitting to a Main Theme or Research Committee (RC) Session -- If you wish to submit your abstract to a Main Theme or Research Committee (RC) session, you must contact the Main Theme Chair or RC Chair to advise them of your intentions. Non-members of RCs are encouraged to participate in RC sessions. You should send a copy of your abstract to the RC Chair or convenor, indicating the appropriate panel. All proposals must still be submitted via the online submission process. All such abstracts will be carefully considered."

6. All the RC panel proposals should be submitted by 18 August 2011. RC panels must be completed by 10 November 2011 with all chairs, co-chairs, discussants and papers assigned.

Deadlines for RCs

16 May Congress website open for call for papers and panels

18 August Deadline to submit RC panel proposals

07 October Deadline to name convenors and submit to IPSA

07 October Deadline for all paper proposals

10 November Deadline for RC panels to be completed

News about procedures and preparations for IPSA World Congress in Madrid (July 2012)

James Björkman — Tue, 17 May 2011 19:47:00 +0200

The next major event for RC25 is IPSA’s 22^nd World Congress in Madrid during 8-12 July 2012 on the theme of “Reordering Power, Shifting Boundaries”. Its website is www.ipsa.org/events/congress/madrid2012 to which proposals for panels and papers are to be submitted directly – although the RC25 chair would like to be kept “in the loop”.

Important deadlines for the World Congress are as follows:

Ø 1 July 2011 – deadline to submit panel proposals (except those by Research Committees, the Local Organizing Committee, Main Theme and Special Sessions)

Ø 08 August 2011 – accepted panels will be posted online

Ø 18 August 2011 – deadline to submit panels by RCs, LOC, Main Theme, Special sessions

Ø 06 September 2011 – registration open

Ø 07 October 2011 – deadline to submit abstract/paper proposals

Ø 10 November 2011 – deadline to finalize RC, LOC, Main Theme, Special Session panels

Ø 18 November 2011 – deadline to submit travel-grant applications

Ø 02 December 2011 – abstract proposers are notified of final results

Ø 13 January 2012 – travel-grant applicants are notified of final results

Ø 11 March 2012 – early registration deadline for paper-givers, discussant and chairs who wish their names to appear in the printed program. All panel chairs must register by this deadline

As of now, two panels have been floated for consideration by RC25 members: “Health Policy Analysis” and “The Changing Architecture of Global Health Governance”. Those interested in the former should contact Jeni Vaitsman and/or Monika Steffen (vaitsman@uol.com.br and monika.steffen@iep-grenoble.fr); those interested in the latter should contact Pieter Fourie (ppfourie@gmail.com) who has provided the following description for guidance:

The pendulum of global health governance is swinging rapidly. In the realm of ideas, the move from the post-World War II biomedical governance model to the socio-behavioural model seemed to conclude with the 1972 Alma Ata Declaration. However, medical triumphalism is making a dramatic comeback. During the past decade, global health governance has come to refer to mechanisms of surveillance in terms of the post-9/11 securitization fad as well as the institutions established transnationally. The Paris Declaration (2007) framework on global development aid was intended to create a global health governance architecture that would be democratic, consultative and in tune with the health governance realities of developing countries. However, this aspiration has derailed as donors in the global north shift their priorities. Even funding and governance architecture for the AIDS pandemic (the 'donor darling' of recent years) has become unattractive. Given the flux in global health governance, this panel invites papers that address, describe and explain the tensions that shape and determine governance modalities.

Finally, RC25 is cooperating with RC32 (on Public Policy and Administration) and with the Public Policy Group of the Belgian Association of Political Science for a joint session on “Patient Empowerment and Democratic Policy: Political Challenges and Theoretical Issues”. To describe the topic, there is an inherent tension between the democratic value of equality and the evidence of inequality in the organizing of social existence – for example, in the workplace and in the family. The late 20^th century has seen significant mobilization of state authority to redress some of this inequality – by the imposition of notions of due process in employment relations and by an emerging discourse about the rights of children.

Medical treatment, however, remains a problematic area because the doctor/patient relationship is inherently unequal – even if a patient hires the services of a doctor. Hospital patients tend to be regarded as having little knowledge of their needs and even less capacity to determine what will happen to them.

It can be argued that this situation is being challenged by a number of paradigm shifts in health care. One is the spread of discourses of participation and empowerment in governing. A related (but distinct) shift is the rationalization of medical care, the codification of what was formerly the personal exercise of professional skill, involving changes in the power relations within the hospital – for example, the mapping of a ‘patient pathway’ that might be given to the patient and used as the basis for performance review. There is also an increasing stress on health as the management of the self rather than the professional provision of curative services as well as recognition that long-term conditions like diabetes require a care regime with the active involvement (not just compliance) of the patient and his/her support team.

Papers are invited which address any aspect of this issue, particularly those blending empirical observation with conceptual/analytical development. If interested, contact Hal Colebatch (hal@colebatch.com).

Information from latest IPSA Newsletter for RC25 members & associates

James Björkman — Fri, 29 Apr 2011 19:36:00 +0200

"The 22nd World Congress of Political Science website will be live as of 16 May 2011 (http://www.ipsa.org/events/congress/madrid2012). Information regarding submissions and deadlines will be available online as of this date. Prepare your panel and/or panel/abstract proposals."