Dataset Information

Political Ideology Direction of Policy Agendas and Maternal Mortality Outcomes in the U.S., 1915-2007.

ABSTRACT:

Objectives

The causes for persistently high and increasing maternal mortality rates in the United States have been elusive.

Methods

We use the shift in the ideological direction of the Republican and the Democratic parties in the 1960s, to test the hypothesis that fluctuations in overall and race-specific maternal mortality rates (MMR) follow the power shifts between the parties before and after the Political Realignment (PR) of the 1960s.

Results

Using time-series data analysis methods, we find that, net of trend, overall and race-specific MMRs were higher under Democratic administrations than Republican ones before the PR (1915-1965)-i.e., when the Democratic Party was a protector of the Jim Crow system. This pattern, however, changed after the PR (1966-2007), with Republican administrations underperforming Democratic ones-i.e., during the period when the Republican Party shifted toward a more economically and socially conservative agenda. The pre-post PR partisan shifts in MMRs were larger for Black (9.5%, p<.01 ) relative to White mothers (7.4%, p<.05 ) during the study period.

Conclusions for practice

These findings imply that parties and the ideological direction of their agendas substantively affect the social determinants of maternal health and produce politized health outcomes.

SUBMITTER: Rodriguez JM

PROVIDER: S-EPMC11001747 | biostudies-literature | 2024 May

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Publications

Political Ideology Direction of Policy Agendas and Maternal Mortality Outcomes in the U.S., 1915-2007.

Rodriguez Javier M JM Bae Byengseon B

Maternal and child health journal 20240102 5

<h4>Objectives</h4>The causes for persistently high and increasing maternal mortality rates in the United States have been elusive.<h4>Methods</h4>We use the shift in the ideological direction of the Republican and the Democratic parties in the 1960s, to test the hypothesis that fluctuations in overall and race-specific maternal mortality rates (MMR) follow the power shifts between the parties before and after the Political Realignment (PR) of the 1960s.<h4>Results</h4>Using time-series data ana ...[more]

PMID: 38165586

Similar Datasets

Project description:ObjectiveThe impact of cognitive function and decline on political ideology is unknown. We studied the relationship between cognition and both political orientation and political policy choices in a population of older persons.DesignLongitudinal investigation.SettingA retirement community and its surroundings in Southern California.Participants151 members of a longitudinal investigation of aging and dementia in the oldest-old (the 90+ Study), mean age 95 years.MeasurementsParticipants self-reported their political ideology (7-point scale from extremely liberal to extremely conservative) and policy preferences for federal spending on public schooling, aid to the poor, and protecting the environment, as well as on preferences on immigration rates, death penalty, and university admission. The same political survey was mailed to participants twice: at time one and 6-months later. Cognitive function based on neurological examination and cognitive testing was classified as normal (55%), cognitive impairment/not dementia (CIND) (33%), or dementia (12%). We calculated rank correlations between ideology and policy choices, stratified by cognitive status, and agreement between Surveys 1 and 2.ResultsPolitical ideology/orientation was highly consistent over a six-month period (84% agreement) among the 122 who returned the second survey, with no significant relationship to cognitive status. Among cognitively impaired (CIND and dementia), however, there was significant loss of consistency between an individual's political orientation and their policy choices. Level of political engagement was high for participants, with more than 90% voting in the 2016 presidential election.ConclusionIn this population of older persons, political identification on the liberal-conservative spectrum was resilient despite cognitive decline, but its meaning and function were changed. For the cognitively impaired it remained a self-defining label, but no longer operated as a higher order framework for orienting specific policy preferences. There appeared to be loss of coherence between the political orientation and political policy choices of cognitively impaired individuals. Given the high level of political engagement of these individuals, these results have substantial public policy implications.

Dataset Information

Political Ideology Direction of Policy Agendas and Maternal Mortality Outcomes in the U.S., 1915-2007.

Objectives

Methods

Results

Conclusions for practice

Publications

Political Ideology Direction of Policy Agendas and Maternal Mortality Outcomes in the U.S., 1915-2007.

Similar Datasets

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