The Social Context of an Ideology by M S Gore

Power, moreover, is relative and relational, and manifests at levels ranging from policy decision-making to the local implementation of interventions.

They have argued that in failing to explicitly recognise the normative premises that undergird global health efforts (Ooms, Citation2015), we overlook why and how actors holding power may steer health efforts in particular directions. Researchers have increasingly drawn attention to the influence of power implicated throughout the global health field, noting that biomedical approaches in public health, which emphasise scientific evidence to guide decision-making, tend to ignore the distribution and exercise of power in health policy and systems (Lee, Citation2015 Shiffman, Citation2014). Collectively, they show how researchers working on global health issues can theorise power and deepen political analysis of health policy and systems.

The papers not only analyse power but also identify ways to counteract it, such as by using human rights-based frameworks to investigate and challenge power asymmetries. Additionally, the papers draw attention to actors, interest groups, and practices not usually viewed as politically salient in health policy and systems research in low- and middle-income countries.

Contributors analyse the exercise of power by actors typically considered powerful on the global stage as well as actors across the health system who may be powerful in national or local contexts. By engaging with the social sciences and humanities, contributors to this collection aim to analytically sharpen and thematically broaden the study of power and politics in global health. Researchers have long noted that the influence of power is implicated throughout the global health field, yet theories and methods for examining power-its sources, workings, and effects-are rarely applied in health policy and systems research.

This special issue of Global Public Health presents a collection of articles that analyse power and its mechanisms in health systems and health policy processes.

The Social Context of an Ideology by M S Gore