The health of the Republic: epidemics, medicine, and moralism as challenges to democracy

Abstract

'This book is about the link between equality and the health of the American republic, the health of its citizens as well as of its democratic institutions'. In a timely and controversial discussion, Dan Beauchamp translates the public health viewpoint into the language of social justice and equality. Arguing that 'public health' and not 'health care' ought to be of prime importance, he puts community interests at the center of a theory of equality. He also demonstrates how protecting the public health is often a matter of strengthening civil liberties. Beauchamp confronts current debates on AIDS, equality in health care, restrictions on smoking, abortion, alcoholism, and drug abuse to discuss the role of government in protecting the public's health. Drawing on political philosophy and theories of democracy and equal citizenship, Beauchamp rejects the thesis that the republic's health depends on choosing between the welfare of the community and the freedom of the individual. Seeing both values as necessary in an egalitarian health policy, he analyzes the dilemma of choosing whether freedom or community ought to dominate in the several spheres of a democratic society that are critical to the public's health. Author note: Dan E. Beauchamp is Professor of Health and Administration in the School of Public Health at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, and the author of Beyond Alcoholism: Alcohol and Public Health Policy (Temple).