The French Senate gutted public health laws by putting local mayors in charge

Evidence

Thus, no Direction of Public Health, comparable to the new Direction of Labor and Direction of Public Assistance, was set up in France to coordinate and enforce health care regulations. The national Medical Assistance Law, guaranteeing all needy citizens free medical care at home, and a public health bill enacting many of the hygienists’ major demands, were passed in 1893 and 1902, respectively. In each case, the Senate insisted that elected mayors and local doctors, rather than professionals working exclusively for the state, be entrusted with the new health administration. In the case of public health, this provision compromised the effectiveness of the new law from the outset; mayors and doctors would have little incentive to enact the 1902 regulations, yet there would be no overarching corps of inspectors to force them to comply. — Alice L. Conklin, A Mission to Civilize_ The Republican…, 216

Categorization

• ADDENDUM: Supports the ‘Grafting & Growth’ essay’s interest in how institutions are transplanted and modified when imposed top-down.