Public Health Politics and Policy: Global and Domestic Perspectives

Catalog description

From measles outbreaks and Ebola quarantines to texting while driving, public health policy permeates daily lives and is prominent in the news media. This course explores how policy is used as a tool to further public health goals and examines how political processes shape health policy and health outcomes both domestically and globally. The course is designed to introduce students of policy and politics to concepts and debates specific to the field of public health. Likewise, the course will introduce public health students to public policy concepts and approaches. The course will draw on readings and examples both from high-income and low- and middle-income countries and will explore similarities as well as differences in theories of the policy process pertaining to each.