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Establishing the Rule of Law in Weak and War-torn States: Evidence from a Field Experiment with the Liberian National Police

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  • BLAIR, ROBERT A.
  • KARIM, SABRINA M.
  • MORSE, BENJAMIN S.

Abstract

How to restore citizens’ trust and cooperation with the police in the wake of civil war? We report results from an experimental evaluation of the Liberian National Police’s (LNP) “Confidence Patrols” program, which deployed teams of newly retrained, better-equipped police officers on recurring patrols to rural communities across three Liberian counties over a period of 14 months. We find that the program increased knowledge of the police and Liberian law, enhanced security of property rights, and reduced the incidence of some types of crime, notably simple assault and domestic violence. The program did not, however, improve trust in the police, courts, or government more generally. We also observe higher rates of crime reporting in treatment communities, concentrated almost entirely among those who were disadvantaged under prevailing customary mechanisms of dispute resolution. We consider implications of these findings for post-conflict policing in Liberia and weak and war-torn states more generally.

Suggested Citation

  • Blair, Robert A. & Karim, Sabrina M. & Morse, Benjamin S., 2019. "Establishing the Rule of Law in Weak and War-torn States: Evidence from a Field Experiment with the Liberian National Police," American Political Science Review, Cambridge University Press, vol. 113(3), pages 641-657, August.
    • Handle: RePEc:cup:apsrev:v:113:y:2019:i:3:p:641-657_3
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    Cited by:

    1. Abril, Veronica & Norza, Ervyn & Perez-Vincent, Santiago & Tobon, Santiago & Weintraub, Michael, 2024. "Building trust in the police: Evidence from a multi-site experiment in Colombia," SocArXiv mrh5q, Center for Open Science.
    2. Kong, NGUYEN To Hong, 2021. "State-to-state Trust in Post-leadership Change: Case Study of China-Japan Relations, 2009-2019," OSF Preprints hdbcy, Center for Open Science.
    3. Abril, Veronica & Perez-Vincent, Santiago & Tobon, Santiago & Vanegas-Arias, Martin, 2024. "Do procedurally just interactions increase police legitimacy? Evidence from a representative vignette experiment in Colombia," SocArXiv 67urc, Center for Open Science.
    4. Travis B. Curtice & Brandon Behlendorf, 2021. "Street-level Repression: Protest, Policing, and Dissent in Uganda," Journal of Conflict Resolution, Peace Science Society (International), vol. 65(1), pages 166-194, January.
    5. Lucía Tiscornia, 2024. "Police reform in the aftermath of armed conflict: How militarization and accountability affect police violence," Journal of Peace Research, Peace Research Institute Oslo, vol. 61(3), pages 383-397, May.
    6. repec:osf:socarx:89shw_v1 is not listed on IDEAS
    7. Santoro, Fabrizio & Mascagni, Giulia, 2023. "Visual nudges: How deterrence and equity shape tax attitudes and behaviour in Rwanda," Journal of Behavioral and Experimental Economics (formerly The Journal of Socio-Economics), Elsevier, vol. 107(C).
    8. repec:osf:socarx:67urc_v1 is not listed on IDEAS
    9. Nomikos, William George, 2021. "More Security, More Legitimacy? Effective Governance as a Source of State Legitimacy in Liberia," OSF Preprints hd28z, Center for Open Science.
    10. Omar Al-Ubaydli & Faith Fatchen & John List, 2025. "Using Field Experiments to Understand the Impact of Institutions on Economic Growth," Springer Books, in: Claude Ménard & Mary M. Shirley (ed.), Handbook of New Institutional Economics, edition 0, chapter 42, pages 1117-1143, Springer.
    11. Michael Callen & Jonathan L. Weigel & Noam Yuchtman, 2024. "Experiments About Institutions," Annual Review of Economics, Annual Reviews, vol. 16(1), pages 105-131, August.
    12. Chatterjee,Shreya & Gassier,Marine & Myint,Nikolas, 2023. "Leveraging Social Cohesion for Development Outcomes," Policy Research Working Paper Series 10417, The World Bank.
    13. Abril, Veronica & Perez-Vincent, Santiago & Tobon, Santiago & Vanegas-Arias, Martin, 2022. "How to measure public trust in the police? A framework with an application for Colombia," SocArXiv 89shw, Center for Open Science.
    14. repec:osf:osfxxx:hd28z_v1 is not listed on IDEAS
    15. repec:osf:socarx:mrh5q_v1 is not listed on IDEAS
    16. Harris, Donna & Borcan , Oana & Serra, Danila & Telli, Henry & Schettini, Bruno & Dercon, Stefan, 2024. "Proud to Belong: The Impact of Ethics Training on Police Officers in Ghana," CEPR Discussion Papers 19141, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.
    17. Sarah Berens & Sabrina Karim, 2024. "Quotidian crime, wartime violence and public goods preferences: Evidence from Liberia," Journal of Peace Research, Peace Research Institute Oslo, vol. 61(4), pages 545-559, July.
    18. Blair, Robert A. & Curtice, Travis & Dow, David & Grossman, Guy, 2022. "Public trust, policing, and the COVID-19 pandemic: Evidence from an electoral authoritarian regime," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 305(C).
    19. Donna Harris & Oana Borcan & Danila Serra & Henry Telli & Bruno Schettini & Stefan Dercon, 2022. "Proud to belong: The impact of ethics training on police officers," CSAE Working Paper Series 2022-05, Centre for the Study of African Economies, University of Oxford.

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