Department of Politics, University of the South, Sewanee, TN, USA.
Office of International Affairs for the Health Portfolio, Public Health Agency of Canada, Canada.
Glob Public Health. 2020 Jun;15(6):805-817. doi: 10.1080/17441692.2020.1724315. Epub 2020 Feb 3.
This article outlines an agenda for political science engagement with global mental health. Other social sciences have tackled the topic, investigating such questions as the link between poverty and mental health disorders. Political science is noticeably absent from these explorations. This is striking because mental health disorders affect one billion people globally, governments spend only about 2% of their health budgets on these disorders, and most people lack access to treatment. With its focus on power, political science could deepen knowledge on vulnerabilities to mental illness and explain weak policy responses. By illustrating how various forms of power pertaining to governance, knowledge, and moral authority work through the concepts of issue framing, collective action, and institutions, the article shows that political science can deepen knowledge on this global health issue. Political science can analyse how incomplete knowledge leads to contentious framing, thus hobbling advocacy. It can explain why states shirk their obligations in mental health, and it can question how incentives drive mental health mobilisation. The discipline can uncover how power undergirds institutional responses to global mental health at the international, national, and community levels. Political science should collaborate with other social sciences in research networks to improve policy outcomes.
这篇文章概述了政治学与全球心理健康问题的参与议程。其他社会科学已经探讨了这个话题，研究了贫困与精神健康障碍之间的联系等问题。政治学在这些探索中明显缺席。这很引人注目，因为精神健康障碍影响着全球 10 亿人，政府在这些障碍上的支出仅占其卫生预算的 2%左右，而且大多数人无法获得治疗。政治学专注于权力，可以加深对精神疾病脆弱性的认识，并解释为何政策应对乏力。本文通过说明与治理、知识和道德权威相关的各种形式的权力如何通过问题框架、集体行动和机构的概念发挥作用，表明政治学可以加深对这一全球健康问题的认识。政治学可以分析不完整的知识如何导致有争议的框架，从而阻碍宣传。它可以解释为什么国家回避其在精神卫生方面的义务，也可以质疑激励措施如何推动精神卫生动员。该学科可以揭示权力如何为国际、国家和社区各级对全球心理健康问题的机构应对提供支持。政治学应该与其他社会科学在研究网络中合作，以改善政策成果。
