Health Policy presents the key classic and contemporary articles and will be an important source of reference for health care professionals, academics and policymakers. It sheds light on the values and socio-political factors which underpin health policy, and will be invaluable in helping to assess and compare policymaking processes in different countries. The volume is divided into six sections and within each section the articles are presented chronologically. Thus the selection is suitable for both the beginner and the more advanced student; the beginner will benefit from the earlier readings by observing their cumulative impact on later writings, while the more advanced student may find the more up-to-date articles of particular interest. Section I introduces several basic values which underlie all health policies; section II reviews the socio-economic and political factors in health policy; section III deals with the experience and practice of American health care while section IV offers comparisons with other countries in Europe and also with Japan. Section V examines the opportunities and constraints for countries' learning from each other and finally section VI raises methodological issues and indicates the challenges which must be addressed in the future.

Table of Contents:
Contents: Acknowledgements Introduction James W. Björkman and Christa Altenstetter PART I HEALTH POLICY FOUNDATIONS: BASIC VALUES AND ORIENTATIONS 1. A. Donabedian (1971), ‘Social Responsibility for Personal Health Services: An Examination of Basic Values’ 2.H.H. Hiatt (1975), ‘Protecting the Medical Commons: who is Responsible?’ 3. F.F.H. Rutten (1983), ‘Health Care Policy Today: Making Way for the Libertarians’ 4. B.L. Kirkman-Liff (1991), ‘Health Insurance Values and Implementation in the Netherlands and the Federal Republic of Germany: An Alternative Path to Univesral Coverage’ PART II CONTEXT OF HEALTH POLICY: SOCIO-ECONOMIC & POLITICAL FACTORS 5.H. Kaufman (1966), ‘The Political Ingredient of Public Health Services: A Neglected Area of Research’ 6.S. Kelman (1975), ‘The Social Nature of the Definition Problem in Health’ 7.A. Wildavsky (1977), ‘Doing Better and Feeling Worse: The Political Pathology of Health Policy’ 8. R.G. Evans and G.L. Stoddart (1990), ‘Producing Health, Consuming Health Care’ PART III THE AMERICAN EXPERIENCE: PILLARS AND PLAYERS 9.R.R. Alford (1972), ‘The Political Economy of Health Care: Dynamics without Change’ 10.R. Stevens (1979), ‘The American Hospital in Historical Perspective’ 11. P. Starr (1982), ‘The Social Origins of Professional Sovereignty’ 12. J.W. Björkman (1989), ‘Politicizing Medicine and Medicalizing Politics: Physician Power in the United States’ 13. S. Steinmo and J. Watts (1995), ‘It’s the Institutions, Stupid! Why Comprehensive National Health Insurance Always Fails in America’ PART IV COMPARATIVE HEALTH POLICY: CROSS-NATIONAL VARIATIONS 14. C. Altenstetter and J.W. Björkman (1981), ‘Planning and Implementation: A Comparative Perspective on Health Policy’ 15. A.J. Heidenheimer, H. Heclo and C.T. Adams(1990), ‘Health Policy’ 16. M. Döhler (1991), ‘Policy Networks, Opportunity Structures and Neo-Conservative Reform Strategies in Health Policy’ 17. E.M. Immergut (1992), ‘Institutions of Representation and National Health Insurance Politics’ 18. David Wilsford (1995), ‘States Facing Interests: Struggles over Health Care Policy in Advanced, Industrial Democracies’ PART V POLICY LEARNING: ASPIRATIONS AND LIMITATIONS 19. M. Lerner, PhD (1977), ‘The Non-Health Services’ Determinants of Health Levels: Conceptualization and Public Policy Recommendations’ 20. L.D. Brown (1986), ‘Introduction to a Decade of Transition’ 21. W.C. Hsiao (1992), ‘Comparing Health Care Systems: What Nations can Learn from One Another’ 22. W.A Glaser (1993), ‘Universal Health Insurance That Really Works: Foreign Lessons for the United States’ 23. R. Klein (1995), ‘Learning from Others: Shall the Last be the First Markets’ PART VI: HEALTH POLICY ANALYSIS: METHODOLOGICAL ISSUES 24. N. Milio (1981), ‘Measuring Prevention and its Worth: The Benefits of Health-Making Policy’ 25. J. Mendeloff (1983), ‘Measuring Elusive Benefits: On the Value of Health’ 26. A.Y. Ellencweig (1992), ‘Health Systems – A Critical Analysis of Existing and Suggested Models’ 27. J.W. Kingdon (1995), ‘The Policy Window, and Joining the Streams’ 28. M. Moran (1995), ‘Three Faces of the Health Care State’ Name Index