Policy Bites – The politics of health, the health of politics: Unraveling structural mechanisms

Join us for a Policy Bites lunchtime seminar with Associate Professor Javier Rodríguez on "The politics of health, the health of politics: Unraveling structural mechanisms."

Light lunch will be provided. Space is limited. Please register to secure your place.

The politics of health, the health of politics: Unraveling structural mechanisms

This talk explores the deep and often overlooked connections between political structures and health outcomes. We examine how politics-driven processes – such as fluctuations in union membership, shifts in top tax rates, and rising ideological political polarization – shape income and wealth inequality, which in turn influence patterns of population health. The presentation also highlights how educational disparities in life expectancy affect political representation by altering the educational composition of the electorate, resulting in measurable losses of votes among those most affected by premature mortality.

About Associate Professor Javier Rodríguez

Javier M. Rodríguez is an Associate Professor of Politics and Government and co-Director of the Inequality and Policy Research Center at Claremont Graduate University, where he teaches health policy and research methodology for policy analysis and social science research. Professor Rodríguez is a leading scholar in advancing the “political epidemiology” approach to racial, gender, and socioeconomic disparities in health. His research is among the first to identify the political causes and consequences of U.S. infant mortality, excess mortality among racial minorities, and premature death among poor and working-class individuals.

After receiving his Ph.D. from UCLA, Professor Rodríguez completed his postdoctoral training at the Population Studies Center at the University of Michigan. He has published numerous articles in multidisciplinary journals, including Social Science & Medicine, International Journal of Epidemiology, Health Affairs, and Journal of Health and Social Behavior, among others. More recently, Professor Rodríguez has been awarded research grants from the Russell Sage Foundation, the Social Security Administration, and the National Institute on Aging to explore the recent halt in life expectancy gains across U.S. subpopulations and the rise in educational and income inequality in life expectancy since 1990.

Format

30 talk presentation followed by audience discussion.

Time and location

1:00 pm, Monday 23 June.

Seminar Room 203, RD Watt Building (A04), Science Road, The University of Sydney, NSW 2050.

See more information about getting to the Lab.

Accessibility

We are committed to ensuring our spaces are safe, accessible and enjoyable for all. The RD Watt building is fully accessible for people who use wheelchairs or other mobility aids and service animals are welcome. Enter via the rear door of the RD Watt Building, near the entrance to the Social Sciences Building at the University of Sydney. Our meeting and events space is equipped with PA and assistive listening systems.

If you have any other access requirements, please do let us know when you register.

About Policy Bites

The Sydney Policy Lab’s lunchtime seminars – Policy Bites – are a forum for researchers and practitioners to present their exploratory and applied policy work in its early stages. Each public seminar gathers the Lab community in our collaborative space to hear and discuss new research as we exchange ideas across disciplines.

Policy Bites are organised by Dr Kate Harrison Brennan (Director, Sydney Policy Lab), Dr Assel Mussagulova (Lecturer in Public Policy and Public Administration, School of Social and Political Sciences) and Associate Professor Meru Sheel (Sydney School of Public Health).