Season 5 Episode 4

A Healthy Democracy

Public health is on the ballot each election. From the president to your state representative to your local public health commissioner, each election decides who makes your public health decisions. Politicians and laws shape the way we receive health care, eat safe food, drink clean water, and more that you may have never previously considered. House and Senate legislators create laws and provide funding for programs that affect health and well-being through medical licensing, regulation of food and drugs, education reform, housing access, and public safety. Beyond the initial legislation, the departments of public health are tasked with executing these new programs using legislative funding. This process exists at the federal and state levels, and many of these policies have lasting impacts on health.

In the wake of controversial politics, threats to democracy, and mass distrust of government and science, what role does public health play in our elections? What policies have direct and indirect influences on public health? Who is responsible for the execution of different public health policies and programs? In other words, why should we look at local, state, and federal elections through the lens of public health? In this month’s episode of PHPod, host Abby Varker talks to experts in the field to learn more about how public health is regulated and what we should be paying attention to in an election.

Matt Motta is a political scientist and assistant professor of health policy, law, and management at Boston University School of Public Health. His research focuses on the social and political determinants of anti-science attitudes and their health policy impact, as featured in his new book, Anti-Scientific Americans: The Prevalence, Origins, and Political Consequences of Anti-Intellectualism in the US.

Marjorie Decker is the Massachusetts State Representative for the 25^th Middlesex district and the chair of the Joint Committee on Public Health, which reads nearly 400 bills per session. Her experience in politics, government, and health advocacy have shaped her career to strengthen local communities.