New paradigm, new context: the pharmaceutical policy case
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.24965/gapp.v0i1.413Keywords:
Actors networks, pharmaceutical policy, regulatory agencies, interest groupsAbstract
The goal of this article is to give an explanation about how and why the regulation of the pharmaceutical sector changes for the last decade. The underlying assumption is that institutional frameworks are a key variable to explain the dynamics of policy change as anticipated by the policy network literature and the punctuated equilibrium model developed by Baumgartner and Jones. The adoption of a new policy paradigm –the rational use of medicines– cannot only be understood as a direct response to a crisis situation, changes in the political system or/and the consolidation of ideas introduced by active policy entrepreneurs as the policy windows model suggest. The way power relations are institutionalized (or policy networks) is important in order to explain why changes in the pharmaceutical policy are quite smooth and gradual. By the same token, this article argues that a redefinition of the policy image involves a transformation of the policy network. In 2008 the politics of the rational use of medicines are managed by a more open policy network in which policy experts play a more important role than before.Downloads
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