Policy entrepreneurs as catalysts of broad system change: the case of social health insurance adoption in India

ABSTRACT

Understanding what drives broad, system change is fundamental, as societies seek to adapt to challenges. We highlight the role that policy entrepreneurs can play as catalysts of such change by linking micro-level strategies and broad, system change which remains understudied. Applying a historical perspective, we analyse the adoption of social health insurance programs in India to identify the role played by policy entrepreneurs in driving the adoption of these programs, even as broader structural and institutional factors established the context for policy change. Further analysis of this kind could advance knowledge of what drives broad, system change in other areas.

KEYWORDS:

• Policy entrepreneurs
• Indian public policy
• social health insurance
• Universal Health Coverage (UHC)
• policy adoption
• policy change

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Correction Statement

This article has been republished with minor changes. These changes do not impact the academic content of the article.

Notes

1. The few studies that partially address this issue include: Balarajan, Y., & Reich, M. R. (2016) and Liu, C., & Jayakar, K. (2012).

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Dayashankar Maurya

Dayashankar Maurya, has more than 10 years’ experience in industry and academia. He received Masters and PhD in Public Policy from National University of Singapore. He is Assistant Professor and Chairperson Healthcare Management program at T. A. Pai Management Institute Manipal. His research is concerned with Governance, Policy Implementation, PPP and Health and Social Policy. He has published papers in peer reviewed international journals such as Public Management Review, Social Policy & Administration, Health Economics Politics and Law, Applied Health Economics and Health Policy, Economic and Political Weekly. He also regularly contributes to newspapers and magazines targeted to policy community.

Michael Mintrom

Michael Mintrom is a professor of Public Sector Management at Monash University. He holds a joint appointment as the Monash Chair at ANZSOG, where he serves as Academic Director of the Executive Master of Public Administration (EMPA) degree. He is a past president of the Public Policy Section of the American Political Science Association. Prof Mintrom began his career in the New Zealand Treasury (1987-1990). He holds a PhD in Political Science from the State University of New York at Stony Brook (1994) and an MA in Economics from the University of Canterbury (1986). He has previously taught and researched at Michigan State University (1994-2002) and the University of Auckland (2002-2011). He chaired a Taskforce on Early Childhood Education for the New Zealand Government, which reported in 2011.