Wow, that might be my first appearance on a syllabus. Extremely flattered, @mirandayaver.bsky.social. :)

i only have so many interesting thoughts!!

Ah yes, in that case, fair call!

In general, the election discourse could use some more rigor.

Reminds me of a few papers:
www.aeaweb.org/articles?id=...

academic.oup.com/ej/article-a...

Unsure of the exact context here, but I always struggle to reconcile individual- and population-level explanations.

Two individual-level explanations can explain variation without explaining population trends, e.g. apathy drives some people to vote less, anger drives more, but on average cancel.

Lastly, some health politics folks who might be interested: @ddiamond.bsky.social @metrauxjulia.bsky.social @brittanytrang.bsky.social @lizszabo.bsky.social @lizhighleyman.bsky.social @reportergoodman.bsky.social @alexander-a-tin.bsky.social @owermohle.bsky.social @megtirrell.bsky.social.

This review is a love letter to the health politics community, and I'm so grateful for their work: @adrianna.bsky.social @jacobwswallace.bsky.social @povertyscholar.bsky.social @askellyphd.bsky.social @dhopkins1776.bsky.social @oberlanderunc.bsky.social @aaronreeves.bsky.social and so, so many more.

Here's our WHO European Observatory webinar, where we preview the brief and answer questions about it.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=CIME...

Link to the brief: eurohealthobservatory.who.int/publications...

Co-authored with Anil Menon.

Grateful for @scottlgreer.bsky.social and Flavia Topan.

We talk about the limits of causal identification in the review, but health is clearly tied to people's politics.

If we want functional, accessible democratic institutions, then we must have a population that is healthy enough to participate in them.

🧵 8/8

Policy makers can engage patient advocacy groups and make it easier for people in poor health to vote.

Also, they can support health-promoting policies with universal, easily identifiable benefits.

This can create a virtuous cycle — rather than the vicious one we face.

🧵 7/8

What can we do about it?

For one, clinicians and health systems can support affirming health care experiences, rebuild trust, and encourage their patients to civically engage.

We especially love the example of Vot-ER.

🧵 6/8

2. Partly due to stigmatizing and demeaning experiences, people in poor health trust the health system, public institutions, and democracy less.

3. As a result, people in poor health are more likely to gravitate toward anti-establishment populist parties.

🧵 5/8

1. People in poor health are much less likely to vote, but they engage in politics in other ways, like signing petitions and writing letters.

Patient advocacy groups are especially helpful in politically engaging this population.

We love the example of European Patients Forum.

🧵 4/8

As a result, health may be a powerful influence on people's political preferences and behaviors.

We reviewed over 170 articles on the topic, ranging from political science to economics to public health.

We summarized the literature in a few key points.

🧵 3/8

Trust in democratic institutions is low, and anti-democratic parties are flourishing.

There are many determinants of people's politics, but an underappreciated one is health.

After all, good health and ability allow us to work, socialize, and engage in civic activities.

🧵 2/8

The RAND health insurance experiment randomized percentages of coinsurance, albeit binned.

but where will i get my fill of far-right bots??

so far, this place is much better than the dumpster fire. who’d’ve thought!