Research in Politics & International Relations

Non-governmental organisations and the making of health policy in China (completed)

Principal Investigator: Dr Jane Duckett
Funded by The Leverhulme Trust
Date: 1 June 2006- 31 August 2007

This project studies the extent of non-governmental organization (NGO) activity in the health sector in China and its impact on health policy.

Chinese health policy has become the subject of scrutiny over the past decade and a half, particularly following the SARS outbreak of 2003. But the outcomes, particularly the failures, often receive more attention than the policies themselves. Understanding how policy is made, however, can help us see why the outcomes are as they are, and, potentially, how policy making could be improved.

Influential studies of other policy areas in China have seen policy-making as largely 'top-down' and essentially the outcome of bargaining within the bureaucracy. However, recent work on societal NGOs in China has begun to show that they are increasingly active, and can sometimes exert a bottom-up influence.

The project will first identify NGOs active in China's health sector, and then focus in some detail on the activities and influence of selected Chinese professional and ‘societal' organizations. It will contribute to understanding (1) how health policy is made in contemporary China, and (2) the evolving role of Chinese NGOs in policy making.