| Specific Detail Info |
The literature on the causes of health care reform is dominated by institutionalist
accounts, and political institutions are among the most prominent factors
cited to explain why change takes place. However, institutionalist accounts have difficulty
explaining both the timing and the content of reforms. By applying a range
of explanatory approaches to a case study of health reform in New Zealand since the
1970s, this article explores some of the theories of reform beyond institutionalism,
particularly those that take into account problem pressure, policy ideas, and the more
agency-centered
factor of partisan ideology. The aim is not to dismiss institutionalism
but to try to fill some of the gaps that cannot be addressed with institutionalist
theories alone. The detailed analysis shows that various factors played a role in
conjunction, namely, problem pressure, policy ideas, and the ideology of parties in
government. Partisan ideology, in particular, has perhaps been prematurely ignored
by health care scholars. |
