Refer to page 27 in Governing Health then go to appropriate government websites to update the information to reflect Congress in 2016, note parties, gender, race and class and anything else you think is interesting or notable about these legislators. You do not need to submit the names and affiliations of members, just review them so that you can answer questions below based on the most current information.
Refer to page 33 in Governing Health– go to Congressional websites and look up those in roles leadership in Senate and House. Note the people in key roles noting their gender, class, gender, political affiliation, where they come from and the committees on which they serve. You do not need to submit the names and affiliations of members, just review them so that you can answer questions below based on the most current information.
Look at the website of the Democratic and Republican parties and read their policy platforms and information about the current political race for the next Presidential election. Note which policies you think are relevant to the area of health policy. You do not need to submit the names and affiliations of members, just review them so that you can answer questions below based on the most current information.
Based on your readings, the video and all of the information from above, answer the following questions:
What does Congress do?
What does the President do?
How do power and gender, race, class inequalities figure into the process by which health policy is made?
Who is deciding how policy gets made?
Whose voice is heard and whose voice is left out?
How do you understand the differences between the Republican and Democratic parties in terms of health policy issues?
What concerns do you have about these issues, as a potential voter, and as a person whose life is affected by the decisions made by Congress.
This module focuses on the readings from Governing Health. In addition to this reading covers the basics of how the federal government of the US works and provides illustrations of specific issues in health care. There is a link to video of a news program on the impact of money in the democratic process that you should watch and links to websites of the White House and both the Republican and Democratic parties. For the discussion board, browse through the websites to learn more about various sectors of the government. You will also need to use these websites to complete the discussion board assignment which asks you to look up information about the CURRENT Congress and think about how its make-up reflects issues of race/class/gender, power and privilege.
Video: Bill Moyers video on the impact of $$ in politics
Readings:
WEISSERT&WEISSERT: Chpt.1 ? Conclusion
BARDACH, Appendix B and C
Chapter on Judiciary
NY Times
Various government websites
Bardach, Eugene and Patashnik, Erik. A Practical Guide for Policy Analysis: The Eightfold Path to More EffectiveProblem Solving. Fifth Edition. CQ Press. 2015. (BARDACH in syllabus) ISBN-13: 978-1483359465
Bird, Chloe E. and Reiker, Patricia P. Gender and Health: The Effects of Constrained Choices and Social Policies. Cambridge University Press. 2008. (BIRD&REIKER in syllabus) ISBN-10: 0521682800 | ISBN-13: 978-0521682800
Weissert, Carol S. and Weissert, William G. Governing Health: The Politics of Health Policy. Fourth Edition. Johns Hopkins University Press. 2006. (WEISSERT&WEISSERT in syllabus) Electronic Book 9781421408460 | Paperback 9781421406213
