AbstractsPolitical Science

Access to healthcare services is a major social concern in China. China's government acknowledges that market reforms of the healthcare system have been a failure, and it has embarked on a series of ambitious health system reforms. This thesis seeks to contribute insights and propositions about how the Chinese government can improve access to healthcare services for citizens in underprivileged, rural areas. In a field dominated by quantitative studies, it takes a qualitative approach, seeking to understand how the system is experienced and dealt with by actors at the bottom of the system. This is done through an in-depth study of users' experiences with the local healthcare system in an earthquake affected village in Sichuan province. Theoretically, the thesis brings a public administration perspective into the analysis of healthcare access. It develops and applies a model that combines public administration tools for analyzing the structures of distribution systems with tools that allow for taking into account the peculiar characteristics of healthcare as a special good.