Laws and policies
About
Laws and policies are written rules and regulations enacted by governments to shape behavior in society and regulate activity. Laws are made by people elected to governments and enforced by various governmental agencies. A policy is a course of action or overall plan to accomplish the goals of a government, party, or organization and determine present and future decisions.
Relationship to health and equity
How we develop and enforce laws and policies can keep us safe and healthy. The Pure Food and Drug Act of 1906 made food and drugs safer, and the Clean Air Act of 1970 established standards to keep harmful pollutants out of the air. Laws and policies also play an important role in shaping the health and experience of different populations. Unfortunately, those in power implement many laws and policies that perpetuate discrimination against groups who have been marginalized; in 2021, more than 800 state laws explicitly or implicitly related to structural racism were on the books across the U.S. For example, laws that allow police to “stop and identify” people with no evidence of wrongdoing are used to stop, search and detain individuals who are Black, Hispanic or Native American at higher rates than those who are white. These types of laws have negative health repercussions, including increased psychological distress, high blood pressure and diabetes among affected populations. We all deserve laws and policies that keep everyone safe, and when people are targeted based on the color of their skin or other demographics, it harms the trust that we all will be safe.
Relationship to systems and structures
Laws and policies, including how they are enforced, have usually been constructed by powerful elites in legislatures or executive branches of governments. What is deemed illegal or legal benefits certain interests and agendas. Laws and policies have, at times, been used to create systems of oppression and sometimes violence against individuals and groups that oppose those in power. For example, some of those in power have worked steadily to pass laws obstructing voter participation.
What is considered legal or illegal reflects shifts in societal values and ideas, such as the adoption of same sex marriage, which granted LGBTQ+ couples access to benefits such as health insurance through their spouse’s plan. What’s illegal today (e.g., federally, recreational marijuana) may be legal tomorrow. Public health practitioners can work with policymakers and in partnership with people we serve to dismantle systems that create inequities and repair wrongs.
Additional Reading
- Heller, J. C., Givens, M. L., Johnson, S. P., & Kindig, D. A. (2024). Keeping it political and powerful: Defining the structural determinants of health. Milbank Quarterly, 102(2), 351-366. https://doi.org/10.1111/1468-0009.12695
- Agénor, A., Perkins, C., Stamoulis, C., Hall, R. D., Samnaliev, M., Berland, S., & Austin, S. B. (2021). Developing a database of structural racism-related state laws for health equity research and practice in the United States. Public Health Reports, 136(4):428-40. https://doi.org/10.1177/0033354920984168
- U.S. Food and Drugs Administration. (n.d.) FDA History. https://www.fda.gov/about-fda/fda-history
- Farrell, C. (2024). Policing gender, race, and place: A multi-level assessment of stop and frisks. Race and Justice, 14(3), 290-312.
- Human Impact Partners. 2018. Developing a transformational criminal justice narrative: A toolkit. https://humanimpact.org/hipprojects/developing-a-transformational-criminal-justice-narrative-a-toolkit/