National Health Systems and the State: The Experience of Practitioners and Patients

There are great differences between national health systems worldwide in part depending on whether they are located in liberal-democratic and authoritarian states. Indeed, some countries are in transition, as illustrated by the Congress theme of the resurgence of authoritarianism. This regular oral paper session explores different types of health systems, and the variation within and between them – ranging from Britain, the United States and other Western societies to such countries as China and Russia. These are all distinctive in terms of the level and type of privatisation and state intervention in health care linked to their socio-political environment. The session centres on analyzing the consequent experience of health practitioners and patients in national health systems. Amongst other things, it considers the relative income, status and power of health practitioners from doctors and nurses to support workers. It also examines the comparative level of user empowerment and the availability and quality of health care, as well as patterns of inequality of access to such care. Papers are invited on these issues in one or more countries on the spectrum from liberal democracy to authoritarianism. Presentations based on the changing role of the state in single societies are also very welcome in this session.