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Democratic demands and social policies: the politics of health reform in Ghana*

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  05 August 2011

Giovanni Carbone
Giovanni Carbone*
Affiliation:
Università degli Studi di Milano, Dipartimento di Studi Sociali e Politici, via Conservatorio 7, Milano, Italy
*
Email: [email protected]
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Abstract

It is commonly assumed that the advent of democracy tends to bring about social welfare improvements. Few studies, however, have examined empirically the impact of third-wave democratisation processes on social policies in developing countries, particularly in sub-Saharan Africa. Through a diachronic comparison, this paper examines the effects of Ghana's democratisation process on the evolution of its health policy. It shows that the emergence of democratic competition played an important role in the recent adoption of a crucial health reform. A policy feedback effect on politics and a process of international policy diffusion were additional but secondary factors.

Type
Research Article
Information
The Journal of Modern African Studies , Volume 49 , Issue 3 , September 2011 , pp. 381 - 408
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2011

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Footnotes

*

This paper is part of a PRIN research project co-funded by the Italian Ministry of Universities and Research and the Università degli Studi di Milano.

References

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