Abstract

CHIARA, Magdalena. Between Programmes and Services: Health Care’s Policies Through its Instruments. An Application to Argentina’s Case (2003-2011). Gest. polít. pública [online]. 2017, vol.26, n.spe, pp.191-222. ISSN 1405-1079.

This paper presents a theoretical and methodological approach for the study of the health care policies in search for capturing the relationships between plans and programmes that take place in the implementation of the reforms. Drawing on the proposal in the framework of “public policies through its instruments”, the paper proposes definitions, provides a specific instrument’s typology for the health field and identifies the relevant attributes for its analysis. To show the potentiality of this tool in a fragmentation context, the paper applies this perspective to the analysis of Argentina’s health policy in a period that goes from the end of the early twentieth century’s crisis to the end of the decade. Transcending the boundaries of each programme, the analysis of its instruments allows to detecting common challenges in the policies’ level, as well as convergences and divergences regarding the changes proposed from the national government.

Keywords : health policy; implementation; policy instruments.