Monday, March 1, 2010

[EQ] Policymaking in Latin America - How Politics Shapes Policies

Policymaking in Latin America - How Politics Shapes Policies


Ernesto Stein and Mariano Tommasi Editors

With Pablo T. Spiller and Carlos Scartascini

Inter-American Development Bank

David Rockefeller Center for Latin American Studies Harvard University


Available online PDF [515p.] at: http://idbdocs.iadb.org/wsdocs/getdocument.aspx?docnum=1570390

“……Latin America is engaged in a constant search for policies to accelerate growth, reduce poverty, and otherwise further its economic and social progress. In its journey on the path to development, it has been offered, and often followed, celebrated road maps designed to speed it along in this tortuous trek. The state-run inward-looking policy package of the postwar era and the liberalization of the Washington Consensus were each hailed as tickets to sustainable, equitable development.

Instead, they produced mixed results and ultimately fell short of the region’s goals and expectations.

Were these policies flawed? Was something missing? To date, most of the discussion has been an exchange between those who argue that the transformation of the state has been incomplete and more reform is needed, and those who oppose reform and attribute the poor results to them.

 

This book suggests an alternative view: the problem lies less in the policies than in the process behind these policies. Public policies are not simply items on a menu that policymakers pick and choose. Rather, they are cooked up by numerous political actors and must then be implemented and sustained over time. Each of these political actors at each stage of the process brings his personal interests to the table and is pressured by others in the process with their own respective interests. The quality of the outcomes in the policymaking process depends as much on how these different actors interact as on the merits of the policy being promoted. Thus, differently put, the issue is not only with the nature of the interventions pursued by the state (“Producing”, “Regulating”, or “Distributing”), but also with the institutions that constitute the state: their incentives, the rules that govern their day-to-day functioning, and their accountability…..”

 

CONTENT:

CHAPTER 1. Political Institutions, Policymaking, and Policy: An Introduction

Pablo T. Spiller, Ernesto Stein, and Mariano Tommasi

CHAPTER 2. Who’s Who in the PMP: An Overview of Actors, Incentives, and the Roles They Play

Carlos Scartascini

CHAPTER 3. Political Institutions, Policymaking Processes, and Policy Outcomes in Argentina

Pablo T. Spiller and Mariano Tommasi

CHAPTER 4. On the Road to Good Governance: Recovering from Economic and Political Shocks in Brazil

Lee J. Alston, Marcus André Melo, Bernardo Mueller, and Carlos Pereira

CHAPTER 5. Political Institutions, Policymaking Processes, and Policy Outcomes in Chile

Cristóbal Aninat, John Londregan, Patricio Navia, and Joaquín Vial

CHAPTER 6. Political Institutions and Policy Outcomes in Colombia: The Effects of the 1991 Constitution

Mauricio Cárdenas, Roberto Junguito, and Mónica Pachón
CHAPTER 7. Veto Players, Fickle Institutions, and Low-Quality Policies: The Policymaking Process in Ecuador

Andrés Mejía Acosta, María Caridad Araujo, Aníbal Pérez-Liñán, and Sebastián Saiegh

CHAPTER 8. Policymaking in Mexico Under One-Party Hegemony and Divided Government

Fabrice Lehoucq, Gabriel Negretto, Francisco Aparicio, Benito Nacif, and Allyson Benton

CHAPTER 9. Political Institutions, Policymaking Processes, and Policy Outcomes in Paraguay

José Molinas, Anibal Pérez-Liñán, Sebastián Saiegh, and Marcela Montero

CHAPTER 10. Political Institutions and Policymaking in Venezuela: The Rise and Collapse of Political Cooperation

Francisco Monaldi, Rosa Amelia González, Richard Obuchi, and Michael Penfold

References

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This message from the Pan American Health Organization, PAHO/WHO, is part of an effort to disseminate
information Related to: Equity; Health inequality; Socioeconomic inequality in health; Socioeconomic
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and interpretations included in the Materials are those of the authors and not necessarily of The Pan American
Health Organization PAHO/WHO or its country members”.
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[EQ] Course on Global Health Diplomacy

Course on Global Health Diplomacy


The Global Health Programme at the Graduate Institute of International and Development Studies (IHEID)

 

Summer executive course will be held in Geneva from 21 - 25 June 2010

 

Website: http://graduateinstitute.ch/corporate/executive/training-workshops/global-health-diplomacy.html

 

"…..Diplomacy is undergoing profound changes in the 21st century - and global health is one of the areas where this is most apparent. As health moves beyond its purely technical realm to become an ever more critical element in foreign policy, security policy and trade agreements, new skills are needed to negotiate global regimes, international agreements and treaties, and to maintain relations with a wide range of actors.

 

The summer course will focus on health diplomacy as it relates to health issues that transcend national boundaries and are global in nature, discuss the challenges before it, and how they are being addressed by different groups and at different levels of governance.


Deliberations on Intellectual Property Rights, the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control, the International Health Regulations, the creation of new finance mechanisms such as the Global Fund for Aids, Tuberculosis and Malaria or UNITAID, as well as the response to SARS and Avian Flu are cases in point and will provide the real life backdrop to the discussions.

 

The programme will also discuss approaches to policy coherence at the level of regional organisations and at the national level, such as national global health strategies.

Course topics include:

- Introduction to global health, global health diplomacy and global health governance

- Health and foreign policy

- Coordination at the national and regional level for global health

- The actors, stakeholders and interest in global health governance and diplomacy

- The dynamics of global health negotiations 􀀹 Key methods, processes, instruments and mechanisms in global health diplomacy

- Cross cutting issues and the key interface with health…."

Director: Prof. Dr. Ilona Kickbusch


The course flyer can be downloaded at:
http://www.globalhealtheurope.org/images/stories/Executive_course_on_Global_Health_Diplomacy_2010_v3.pdf

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This message from the Pan American Health Organization, PAHO/WHO, is part of an effort to disseminate
information Related to: Equity; Health inequality; Socioeconomic inequality in health; Socioeconomic
health differentials; Gender; Violence; Poverty; Health Economics; Health Legislation; Ethnicity; Ethics;
Information Technology - Virtual libraries; Research & Science issues.  [DD/ KMC Area]

"Materials provided in this electronic list are provided "as is". Unless expressly stated otherwise, the findings
and interpretations included in the Materials are those of the authors and not necessarily of The Pan American
Health Organization PAHO/WHO or its country members".
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[EQ] Thinking of introducing social health insurance? Ten questions

Thinking of introducing social health insurance? Ten questions

Ole Doetinchem, Guy Carrin, David Evans
Technical brief for policy-makers, Number 4/2009
World Health Organization
Languages: EN, FR, ES
WHO reference number: WHO/HSS/HSF/PB/09.04

 

PB 4/09 Thinking of introducing social health insurance? Ten questions [pdf 484kb]

PB 4/09 Vous envisagez de mettre en place une assurance maladie sociale ? Dix questions à vous poser [pdf 588kb]

PB 4/09 ¿Piensa implantar un seguro social de salud? Diez preguntas [pdf 1.29Mb]

1. What do you mean by social health insurance?

“…….Social health insurance (SHI) is one of the possible organizational mechanisms for raising and pooling funds to finance health services, along with tax-financing, private health insurance, community insurance, and others1. Typically in the more mature European SHI systems, working people and their employers, as well as the self-employed, pay contributions that cover a package of services available to the insurees and their dependents. In most cases they are obliged to make these contributions by law. Many governments also pay subsidies into these systems in order to ensure or improve their financial sustainability.

 

Within this context, there has been considerable variation in how Social health insurance SHI systems have developed across countries. Contributions are sometimes held in a single fund, or there might be several funds that compete for membership.

 

These funds may be run by government or by nongovernmental or parastatal organizations. Contributions have generally, but not always, ensured that the rich contribute more than the poor but contributions do not typically vary with health status. The sick do not pay more than the healthy, to allow the financial risks of paying for care to be shared across the healthy and the sick, or across the life cycle for individuals. A multitude of ways of paying providers can be observed, from unrestricted fee for service, to selective contracting at negotiated rates……”

2.   How will SHI contribute to your health system objectives?
3.   Will SHI raise additional funding for health?
4.   Are all stakeholders in support of SHI?
5.   Is there a legal framework for SHI to operate within?
6.   Are revenue collection procedures technically feasible?
7.   Are the physical and intellectual resources available to setup a SHI organization?
8.   What benefits will SHI members be entitled to?
9.   How should the SHI purchase or provide health services?
10. Can SHI operate at a financial equilibrium?....”


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This message from the Pan American Health Organization, PAHO/WHO, is part of an effort to disseminate
information Related to: Equity; Health inequality; Socioeconomic inequality in health; Socioeconomic
health differentials; Gender; Violence; Poverty; Health Economics; Health Legislation; Ethnicity; Ethics;
Information Technology - Virtual libraries; Research & Science issues.  [DD/ KMC Area]

“Materials provided in this electronic list are provided "as is". Unless expressly stated otherwise, the findings
and interpretations included in the Materials are those of the authors and not necessarily of The Pan American
Health Organization PAHO/WHO or its country members”.
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    IMPORTANT: This transmission is for use by the intended recipient and it may contain privileged, proprietary or confidential information. If you are not the intended recipient or a person responsible for delivering this transmission to the intended recipient, you may not disclose, copy or distribute this transmission or take any action in reliance on it. If you received this transmission in error, please notify us immediately by email to infosec@paho.org, and please dispose of and delete this transmission. Thank you.