The Health of Nations

We have come to assume that as ordinary citizens we have little influence on public policy, yet we know that politicians rely on pollsters for a direct sense of our concerns. Do we have more power than we think?In The Health of Nations, Lawrence R. Jacobs compares the impact of public opinion on two historic health care reforms-the 1965 Medicare Act in the United States and the British National Health Service Act of 1946. Drawing on extensive interviews and archival research in each case, he describes in unprecedented detail the ways in which mass culture contributed to the national health care agenda and helped shape the policies that emerged. Jacobs argues that in both countries, despite national differences, public opinion directly affected political initiatives. When policymakers were not guided by public opinion, they reached decisions that resulted in today's problems, including questions of resource allocation, cost containment, and appropriate control over providers of care.Jacobs uses these two legislative landmarks to challenge conventional analyses of policy making. He proposes an innovative approach that integrates the roles of public opinion, institutions, and political processes.The Health of Nations is essential reading for policy analysts, political scientists, political sociologists, social historians, scholars of public opinion, and anyone interested in the American and British health care systems.