Overview

One aim of social participation is to provide new input for better informed health policymaking. However, this is not always perceived as a priority, and several conditions are required to avoid this “deliberation to policy gap”. Some are linked to political will and commitment as preconditions for building a culture of participation in strategic and political debates. Others depend on the format and design of participatory spaces, to level out power imbalances and to allow all participants to speak with an equal voice. Through illustrations from Thailand, Ecuador, Tunisia and Mali, this article provides a flexible approach for thinking about how to ensure policy uptake in each context.