Engaging Citizens in Post-Soviet Health Reforms: Patterns of State Communication

• In Event: Trust and Regime Influences on Health and Healthcare

Abstract

Under what conditions do governments spread information about social policy reform efforts? In the past decade, the rise of the internet and social media has drastically changed how governments communicate with their populations. These tools have provided opportunities for greater transparency and accountability, while also allowing for the widespread influence of misinformation campaigns. In the post-Soviet states, these communication trends are particularly noticeable surrounding social policy reforms. In both Russia and Ukraine, welfare ministries have become more active online in promoting reform efforts and engaging citizens in issue discussions. But what does this mean in terms of state-society relations surrounding the traditionally popular areas of welfare policy? Are these patterns influenced by regime type, or has the globalization of health as an issue area shaped the strategies of governments seeking to improve outcomes, regardless of regime characteristics? And what does this mean for policy implementation? In this paper, I explore patterns in the Health Ministries’ communications about healthcare reform efforts across social media, official websites, and traditional media from 2010 to 2018. In analyzing the audience, type of information, frequency of communication, and tone, I demonstrate that, counter to the expectation that regime type or policy outcomes alone would drive these campaigns, the effects of the two countries’ healthcare policy decisions in the 1990s still shape how and what they emphasize in their communications today. This limits the influence that the increased state-society interaction can have on health literacy – an important factor in improving policy outcomes and impact – amongst the population. Finally, it suggests that governments’ use of information in social policy reform is shaped not only by contemporary factors, but by the legacy of long-term structural and cultural constraints.

Author

• Brittany L. Holom, Princeton University