Health + Democracy
The SNF Agora Institute’s Health and Democracy initiative explores the intersection of health and democracy, investigating ways that the vitality of democracy is linked to the well-being of its citizens and ways healthier people are more able to be good citizens.
This community of practice underlines the bidirectional relationship between health, both physical and mental, and democratic engagement. It posits that a healthier populace is more capable of full participation in democratic processes, while also acknowledging that individuals facing health challenges are often the most motivated to seek change in the public sphere.
Spearheaded by a distinguished team of SNF Agora faculty affiliates including Sara Johnson, Eliana M. Perrin, and Andrew Perrin, this transdisciplinary effort brings together expertise from across Johns Hopkins University — with participation from the School of Medicine, the Bloomberg School of Public Health, the School of Nursing, and the Krieger School of Arts and Sciences.
Current focal points of this community of practice include:
- Facilitating collaborative postdoctoral education across medical, nursing, public health, social sciences, and humanities.
- Developing undergraduate offerings that examine democracy’s and health’s intertwined dynamics.
- Utilizing the Baltimore Area Survey for data collection to explore health and democracy’s interplay.
- Launching research projects to investigate primary care’s role in enhancing civic capacity and democratic engagement.
