Junk Food Politics: Political Influence of Junk Food Industry in Emerg Economies

• In Event: Deepening Global Health Politics: Policies, Agendas, and Democratic Complexity

Abstract

As their sales plummet in the West, major multilateral junk food industries, such as Coca-Cola, Pepsi Co, and Nestlé have eagerly sought to invest within nascent democracies in the developing world, taking advantage of a rising middle-class and market reform. Despite impressive movements towards democratic consolidation in Mexico, Brazil, India, and Indonesia, as well as innovative NCD policies, these governments have continuously neglected to create effective policies regulating the marketing and sales of these industries’ products. And this occurred as rates of obesity and type-2 diabetes burgeon among children and the poor. In accounting for this ongoing policy failure, this paper advances a new theory of interest group behaviour based on the merger of theories emphasizing the importance of interest group lobbying tactics, corporate social responsibility, and the complementary role of presidential electoral and policy ambitions within emerging economies. Furthermore, this study is the first to apply the rich American politics and public policy literature on interest group behaviour to the developing world, in turn revealing several theoretical limitations and opportunities for advancement in the areas of democratic accountability and responsiveness to population healthcare needs.

Author

• Eduardo J. Gomez, Lehigh University