ADRN

Thailand, universal healthcare, universal coverage, electoral rules, political institutions, political parties, Ministry of Public Health, bureaucrats, professional movements, policy process

What explains the passage of Thailand`s landmark universal healthcare (UHC) policy? In separate contributions, Selway and Harris emphasized the role of electoral rules and political parties, on one hand, and “professional movements” of developmentally minded state bureaucrats on the other. Which is correct? In this article, Selway and Harris respond to each other`s work. While Selway agrees that the actions of the professional movement constitute an underappreciated necessary condition for universal healthcare in Thailand, he argues that Harris overstates the role of the movement in implementation. Harris defends his position and maintains that an institution-focused account is insufficient, arguing that the actions of Thailand`s Rural Doctors’ Movement not only explain universal healthcare but also gave rise to the very electoral rule changes that Selway argues were so critical to facilitating universal coverage. Selway responds to these criticisms, and the two researchers jointly consider implications for causation, qualitative research, and policymaking theory. DOI : https://doi.org/10.1017/jea.2019.42

Joseph Harris (josephh@bu.edu) is Assistant Professor of Sociology at Boston University. He is author of Achieving Access: Professional Movements and the Politics of Health Universalism (Cornell University Press, 2017). He has earned two Fulbright awards for his research on health policy in Thailand, has served as Associate Editor for Health Policy at Social Science and Medicine, and is a member of the governing Council of the ASA Section on the Sociology of Development. Joel Sawat Selway (joel_selway@byu.edu) is Associate Professor of Political Science at Brigham Young University. He is author of Coalitions of the Wellbeing: How Electoral Rules and Ethnic Politics Shape Health Policy in Developing Countries (Cambridge University Press). His work focuses on political institutions, ethnic diversity, and development. He is currently examining the politics of ethno-regional minorities, including a book-length manuscript on the Lanna of Northern Thailand.