The Politics of Healthcare Expansion

'In this important new book comparing Peru, Chile, and Mexico, Ponce de Leon demonstrates that good healthcare outcomes are possible if those running the nation's major political parties want it for their people. It is a major contribution to the study of Latin American health care systems, but also more generally to our understanding of policy reform, implementation, and political parties.' Frank R. Baumgartner, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill
'Built on rich interview and archival research in Chile, Mexico and Peru, in this book Zoila Ponce de León takes us beyond explanations of what determines expansionary health reforms, to identify the factors that lead to high quality implementation of these reforms. In so doing, Ponce de León moves the study of the politics of social policy reform forward, to better understand the political factors behind good policy implementation.' Christina Ewig, University of Minnesota
'This excellent book greatly enriches our understanding of the quality of health care reforms in the Global South by focusing on the central role of the commitment of programmatic parties to an expansion of access to quality health care. It challenges the view that policy-making by apolitical technocrats is superior by demonstrating that the technocratic path in the absence of committed programmatic parties leads to lack of protection of access and of sustainable funding.' Evelyne Huber, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill