Purpose The purpose of this paper is to explore how the patient comes to be seen as a solution to governance problems. Design/methodology/approach The paper studies health policy discourse in Denmark from 1970 to 2000. Based on an analysis of national policy documents, the paper traces how the...

Purpose – This paper aims to discuss recent contributions to comparative healthcare systems research, which emphasise decentralisation as a major characteristic of Scandinavian hospital systems. Whether the idea of such a “decentralised Scandinavian model” is appropriate and useful, how...

Purpose – The paper aims to account for the substance of non‐linear governance change by analysing the importance of sector‐specific institutions and the pathways of governing they create. Design/methodology/approach – The analysis uses recent reforms of the governance of medical...

Purpose – The purpose of the paper is to inquire into how decisions about public fiscal responsibility for pharmaceutical spending are made and justified when there is a lack of coherent, unambiguous and undisputed evidence about the material characteristics of pharmaceutical use....