Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
Comment
. 2023:12:7297.
doi: 10.34172/ijhpm.2022.7297. Epub 2022 May 22.

Beyond "Lack of Political Will": Elaborating Political Economy Concepts to Advance "Thinking and Working Politically" Comment on "Health Coverage and Financial Protection in Uganda: A Political Economy Perspective"

Aloysius Ssennyonjo  1   2   3
Affiliations
Comment

Beyond "Lack of Political Will": Elaborating Political Economy Concepts to Advance "Thinking and Working Politically" Comment on "Health Coverage and Financial Protection in Uganda: A Political Economy Perspective"

Aloysius Ssennyonjo. Int J Health Policy Manag. 2023.

Abstract

Political economy analysis (PEA) has been advanced as critical to understanding the political dimensions of policy change processes. However, political economy (PE) is not a theory on its own but draws on several concepts. Nannini et al, in concert with other scholars, emphasise that politics is characterised by conflict, contestation and negotiation over interests, ideas and power as various agents attempt to influence their context. This commentary reflects how Nannini et al wrestled with these PEA concepts - summarised in their conceptual framework used for PEA of the Ugandan case study on financial risk protection reforms. The central premise is that a common understanding of the PEA concepts (mainly structure-agency interactions, ideas, interests, institutions and power) forms a basis for strategies to advance thinking and working politically. Consequently, I generate several insights into how we can promote politically informed approaches to designing, implementing and evaluating policy reforms and development efforts.

Keywords: Health Reforms; Ideas; Institutions; Politics; Power; Universal Health Coverage.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

Author declares that he has no competing interests.

Comment on

References

    1. Reich MR. The politics of reforming health policies. Promot Educ. 2002;9(4):138–142. doi: 10.1177/175797590200900401. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Hudson D, Leftwich A. From Political Economy to Political Analysis. Birmingham: Developmental Leadership Program; 2014.
    1. Hudson D, Marquette H. Mind the Gaps: What’s Missing in Political Economy Analysis and Why it Matters. OECD; 2015.
    1. Nannini M, Biggeri M, Putoto G. Health coverage and financial protection in Uganda: a political economy perspective. Int J Health Policy Manag. 2022;11(9):1894–1904. doi: 10.34172/ijhpm.2021.116. - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Fox AM, Reich MR. The politics of universal health coverage in low- and middle-income countries: a framework for evaluation and action. J Health Polit Policy Law. 2015;40(5):1023–1060. doi: 10.1215/03616878-3161198. - DOI - PubMed

LinkOut - more resources