Democracies: Challenges to Societal Health (Research in Political Sociology, 19)

Book info: Democracies: Challenges to Societal Health (Research in Political Sociology, 19) (Hardcover, 300 pages) – Emerald Publishing Limited, 2011. Language: English.

Volume 19 in the "Research in Political Sociology" series is devoted to health problems, challenges and accomplishments in democratic societies. It includes papers addressing health systems, health policies, obstacles to societal healthy behaviors, and/or health conditions that are experienced in democratic societies in the world. The democratic society is understood in a broadly defined term. It includes developed Western democracies, as well as less developed or underdeveloped countries that have democratic system. According to such definition, the category "democracies" includes democratic countries that have well established democratic system and respect broad network of people rights, as well as democracies that are formally consider democratic states but de facto respect only a few rights or their governments are guided by limited democratic principles. Therefore, the collection of the 19th volume of "Research in Political Sociology" includes papers addressing these issues in a broad spectrum of countries from India, Sri Lanka and Tanzania, to Sweden, Canada and the United States. Editorial Reviews Review Contributors from social and medical sciences and the humanities explore links and friction between democratic processes and public health. The underlying question is why democracies do not as a rule have healthier populations than other countries. Among the topics are human rights and health status of girls and young women in Afghanistan under the new democracy, health systems in Southeast Asia and Eastern Europe, the nutrition and health of women and children in the aftermath of natural disasters, a case study of women and domestic violence in rural Sri Lanka, the declining health status in sub-Saharan Africa as fueled by illusory internal migration, and policy recommendations. The 12 essays are not indexed. Distributed in North America by Turpin Distribution. --Book News Inc. Portland, OR About the Author Barbara Wejnert - State University of New York at Buffalo, NY, USA