The Paradox of Health Policy: Revealing the True Colours of This ‘Chameleon Concept’; Comment on “The Politics and Analytics of Health Policy”

Document Type : Commentary

Author

Health Services Management Centre, University of Birmingham, Birmingham, UK

Abstract

Health policy has been termed a ‘chameleon concept’, referring to its ability to take on different forms of disciplinarity as well as different roles and functions. This paper extends Paton’s analysis by exploring the paradox of health policy as a field of academic inquiry—sitting across many of the boundaries of social science but also marginalised by them. It situates contemporary approaches within disciplinary traditions, explaining its inter- and multi-disciplinary character. It also presents a ‘way of seeing’ health policy in terms of three axes: central/local, profession/management, and health/healthcare. The paper concludes with a call for a new research agenda which recognises health policy’s pedigree but also one which carves a distinctive future of relevance and rigour.

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References

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History

  • Receive Date: 25 April 2014
  • Revise Date: 15 May 2014
  • Accept Date: 15 May 2014
  • First Publish Date: 01 June 2014

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