Introduction to the special issue: liberty, equality, crisis—the paradoxes of the French health system

This special issue examines the paradoxes of the French health system. Contributions from francophone and anglophone scholars on both sides of the Atlantic explore these tensions through diverse analytic lenses. In this introduction, we highlight three major throughlines: that universal coverage co-exists with persistent inequalities, that the postwar elite consensus faces increasing contestation, and that the state's centralization is in fact mediated by frontline actors. Together, these contributions show that the recurring themes of French health care--liberty, equality, and crisis--are not mutually exclusive but mutually constitutive. Their frictions generate the system's distinctive and enduring paradoxes.