Realizing Health During Crisis: Case Studies of European Austerity

Abstract

This thesis utilizes a framework of state obligations toward progressive realizations of health by realizing how social, political, and economic influence the population's health in four European countries. My primary question is: Have states successfully prioritized the health of their people when facing financial hardships? This is to ask if the policy, political, and economic decisions countries make during periods of economic recessions prevent or facilitate the retrogression of health outcomes, particularly when states select austerity measures. I investigate three case studies using population health, health expenditure, and health capacity data from France, Italy, and Spain to answer whether this state's decisions to intervene in economic crisis with austerity measures were met with good population health.