5th ISA Forum of Sociology (6-11 July 2025)

This roundtable brings country experts together with scholars working on international organizations and broader policy processes in health systems to discuss the idea of taking policy more seriously in health systems research. First, we explore how analysts of health care policy can draw more directly on conceptual models of the policy process focusing on the ‘stages model’ and the ‘3Is’ model of ideas, interests and institutions. Second, we apply these concepts to a wider range of countries: Until recently, most of the analytical tools, such as theoretical frameworks and typologies, used in the broader public policy literature have remained focused on national dynamics and policy interactions within the global North, comprising of higher income countries. Health care policy questions in the global South, however, were seen in the context of an international development paradigm, with greater interest in transnational policy processes and the role of international actors. This panel, building on a recent Handbook we published, contributes to the growing literature that aims to bridge these divides.