Earlier this year, the Supreme Court of India upheld the constitutional validity of the Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education Act 2009 and the Supreme Court of the United States likewise upheld the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, 2010. The two pieces of legislation attempt to expand, to a greater or lesser degree, the provision of education and health services, respectively. This article attempts to understand and evaluate the policy debates and legal decisions around the two Acts as attempts by two constitutional liberal democracies to clarify the relationship between the state and private sector, and their respective roles and responsibilities to secure social welfare.
Sudhir Krishnaswamy and Arjun Jayadev wrote this piece which was published in the Economic and Political Weekly on 01 September 2012. Access it here.