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Lives matter. Do votes? Invited commentary on “Black lives matter: Differential mortality and the racial composition of the U.S. electorate, 1970-2004”
Journal article   Peer reviewed

Lives matter. Do votes? Invited commentary on “Black lives matter: Differential mortality and the racial composition of the U.S. electorate, 1970-2004”

Jonathan Purtle
Social science & medicine (1982), v 136-137, pp 190-192
Jul 2015
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.socscimed.2015.05.017
PMID: 25990797
Featured in Collection :   UN Sustainable Development Goals @ Drexel

Abstract

Electorate Health disparities Health policy Political inequality Premature mortality Race Voting
Racial health disparities in the United States are produced and perpetuated through public policies that differentially allocate risks and resources for health. Elected officials have the ability modify the structural determinants of racial health disparities through policy decisions and, through voting, the electorate can influence the extent to which these policy decisions promote health equity. In this commentary, I synthesize research on the voting behavior of electorates and policy decisions and present strategies to foster sociopolitical environments that are conducive to the implementation and enforcement of racial health disparity reduction initiatives. There is a need for research that contributes to a more comprehensive understanding of the role of voting in health policy making processes and further development of empirically-based policy advocacy strategies.

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2 citations in Web of Science
2 citations in Scopus

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UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)

This publication has contributed to the advancement of the following goals:

#3 Good Health and Well-Being
#10 Reduced Inequalities

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Web of Science research areas
Public, Environmental & Occupational Health
Social Sciences, Biomedical
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