The Making of National Health Insurance in Britain and Canada
Institutional Analysis and its Limits
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 3183168 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Joan Sokolovsky |
| Year | 1998 |
| Volume | 11 |
| Issue | 2 |
| Pages | 247-280 |
| Publication date | 1998-06-01 |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Journal of Historical Sociology (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0952-1909 • E-ISSN: 1467-6443 |
| Publisher | Wiley (PUBLISHER • GB) |
| DOI | 10.1111/1467-6443.00062 |
| OpenAlex | W2024774194 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 3 |
Scholars examining the development of health insurance reform programs from an institutionalist perspective have drawn attention to the importance of state structures and administrative capacities in shaping social policy outcomes. Focusing on the introduction of the British National Health Insurance Act of 1911 and the Canadian Hospital Insurance Act of 1957, I suggest that institutionalist analysis can obscure the historical record in three ways. Analysts may ignore the multiple institutional mechanisms that were available to policy makers at the time; they may overlook the contentiousness of policy battles; and they may underestimate the extent to which similar institutions have functioned in very different ways. In the case of Britain, I argue that national health insurance was part of a package of social reforms designed to halt the slide of Britain from a position of preeminence in the world economy. The introduction of Canadian health insurance coincided with an increased role for local and federal states in fostering economic development within the nation. Institutional structures, cultural values, and political power were all resources used within both states to create a consensus behind the new national agenda
Economics · Health care · National health insurance · Political economy · Political science · Politics · Position (finance · Power (physics · Social insurance · Sociology · State (computer science · Canadian Identity and History · Historical Studies on Reproduction, Gender, Health, and Societal Changes · Political and Economic history of UK and US · Finance · Health Policy · Law · Public Administration
| Citations per year | 0.12 |
|---|---|
| Citation span | 2001 - 2005 (5) |
| Highly cited | No |