Lawyers, Communities and Language: Unlocking Evidence on Effective Rule of Law
Lawyers: The economic dividends of increased access to legal services
We know that in the aggregate institutions matter. For example, research by Acemoglu et al 2019 suggests that, on average, democratizations increase GDP per capita by about 20 percent in the long run. Identifying country specific institutions to strengthen remains key to unleash this potential. For example, one article in the Rule of Law Evidence Gap Map focuses on a randomized intervention in Kenya. The legal system enforces contracts and secures property rights, thereby increasing the incentives to exert effort, invest, access credit, and grow. Yet, the high costs of access to the legal system may prevent these gains from taking place. They show that giving access to the legal system, by offering the services of a lawyer free of charge for two years, increased effort and access to credit. These effects are statistically and economically significant: the benefits of the intervention were found to outweigh the costs.
Communities: Improving security through community-oriented policing
The Rule of Law Evidence Gap Map also identifies articles testing the effect of community-oriented policing on crime rates and trust for justice institutions and actors. For example, a case study found robust evidence that the introduction of community policing in a district of the city of Mbujimayi, Democratic Republic of Congo was instrumental in improving security. As a result of the community policing intervention in the pilot district, insecurity was reduced by about a half after less than a year of implementation. The study finds that community policing strongly impacted the two dimensions of security: access to policing services and police legitimacy. The effect of community policing is found, however, to be significantly higher for men than for women and to have had no or only marginal impact on younger women who remained vulnerable to insecurity even after treatment.
Language: Improving police trust and legitimacy through dialogue
A systematic review assesses the direct and indirect benefits of public police interventions that use procedurally just dialogue. The review summarized findings from 30 studies conducted in Australia, the USA and England. Research shows that citizens are more likely to cooperate with the police and obey the law when they view the police's authority as legitimate. One way that the police can increase their legitimacy and gain cooperation and respect from citizens is by using “procedurally just” dialogue that adopts language that treats citizens with dignity and respect, conveys trustworthy motives, allows citizens to speak up and express their views during encounters, and by not “profiling” people based on race, gender or any other characteristic. The review shows that police-led interventions specifically aimed at increasing legitimacy have a significant impact on public satisfaction with and confidence in the police. Such interventions are also associated with significantly increased public compliance and cooperation, perceived fairness and increased likelihood of obeying the police and law. Interventions also had a minor effect on reoffending.
Do you have a study we should share for a future Facty Friday? Send an email to drg.el@usaid.gov!