The Rule of Law: Measurement and Deep Roots

This paper does three things. First, based on a limited number of theoretically established dimensions, it proposes a new de facto indicator for the rule of law. It is the first such indicator to take the quality of legal norms explicitly into account. Second, using this indicator we shed new light on the relationship between the rule of law and the political system of a country. Presidential governments tend to score significantly lower on the rule of law indicator than parliamentary ones. Many presidential democracies are even outperformed by dictatorships. The observation that political systems hardly predetermine the rule of law level raises the question why the authority of law differs across societies in its capacity to constrain the behavior of public officials. Third, because of this question, we investigate the roots of the rule of law. As theory on this specific question is scarce and the rule of law is closely associated with income levels, we draw on a topical literature that deals with the fundamental causes of economic development. Our findings suggest that specific determinants of long-run development operate via the rule of law, whereas others are not related to the rule of law at all. Our empirical evidence does, however, support not only the “primacy of institutions” view, but also the important role that human capital, which European settlers brought to their colonies, played in historical economic development

Precision-Guided or Blunt? The Effects of US Economic Sanctions on Human Rights

We use endogenous treatment-regression models to estimate the causal average treatment effect of US economic sanctions on four types of human rights. In contrast to previous studies, we find no support for adverse effects of sanctions on economic rights, political and civil rights, and basic human rights. With respect to women's rights, our findings even indicate a positive relationship. Emancipatory rights are, on average, strengthened when a country faces sanctions by the US. Our findings are robust when applying various changes to the empirical specification. Most importantly, this study provides strong evidence that the endogeneity of treatment assignment must be modelled when the consequences of sanctions are studied empirically

FAMULATUR PLUS - Ein erfolgreicher Ansatz zur Verbesserung studentischer Fertigkeiten in der körperlichen Untersuchung?

Introduction/Project description: Several studies have revealed insufficient physical examination skills among medical students, both with regard to the completeness of the physical examination and the accuracy of the techniques used. FAMULATUR PLUS was developed in response to these findings. As part of this practice-oriented instructional intervention, physical examination skills should be taught through examination seminars and problem-oriented learning approaches. In order to ensure practical relevance, all courses are integrated into a 30-day clinical traineeship in the surgery or internal medicine department of a hospital (FAMULATUR PLUS).Research question: Does participation in the FAMULATUR PLUS project lead to a more optimistic self-assessment of examination skills and/or improved performance of the physical examination?Methodology: A total of 49 medical students participated in the study. The inclusion criteria were as follows: enrollment in the clinical studies element of their degree program at the University of Ulm and completion of the university course in internal medicine examinations. Based on their personal preferences, students were assigned to either the intervention (surgery/internal medicine; n=24) or the control group (internal medicine; n=25). All students completed a self-assessment of their physical examination skills in the form of a questionnaire. However, practical examination skills were only assessed in the students in the intervention group. These students were asked to carry out a general physical examination of the simulation patient, which was recorded and evaluated in a standardized manner. In both instances, data collection was carried out prior to and after the intervention. Results: The scores arising from the student self-assessment in the intervention (IG) and control groups (CG) improves significantly in the pre-post comparison, with average scores increasing from 3.83 (±0.72; IG) and 3.54 (±0.37; CG) to 1.92 (±0.65; IG) and 3.23 (±0.73; CG). The general physical examination, which was only assessed among the students in the intervention group, was performed more completely after the instructional intervention than prior to it.Discussion: On the basis of the data collected, it can be deduced that the FAMULATUR PLUS course has a positive effect on the self-assessment of medical students with regard to their physical examination skills. The validity of this conclusion is limited by the small sample size. In addition, it remains unclear whether a more positive self-assessment correlates with an objective improvement in physical examination skills.Einleitung/Projektbeschreibung: Etliche Studien belegen die unzureichenden Kenntnisse Medizinstudierender in der körperlichen Untersuchung. Dies betrifft sowohl die Vollständigkeit wie auch die Technik der körperlichen Untersuchung. Vor diesem Hintergrund wurde die FAMULATUR PLUS entwickelt. Im Rahmen dieser praxisorientierten Lehrintervention soll die körperliche Untersuchung durch Untersuchungskurse und problemorientiertes Lernen vermittelt werden. Zur Gewährleistung der Praxisnähe sind alle Lehrveranstaltungen in eine 30tägige Famulatur in der Chirurgie oder Inneren Medizin integriert (FAMULATUR PLUS).Fragestellung: Führt die Teilnahme an der FAMULATUR PLUS zu einer optimistischeren Selbsteinschätzung der Untersuchungsfertigkeiten und/oder verbesserten Durchführung der körperlichen Untersuchung?Methodik: An der Studie nahmen insgesamt 49 Medizinstudierende teil. Einschlusskriterien waren die Immatrikulation im klinischen Studienabschnitt an der Universität Ulm sowie die Absolvierung des universitären Untersuchungskurses der Inneren Medizin. Die Studierenden entschieden sich nach individueller Präferenz für die Zuordnung zur Interventions- (Chirurgie/Innere Medizin; n=24) oder Kontrollgruppe (Innere Medizin; n=25). Die Selbsteinschätzung hinsichtlich der Fertigkeiten in der körperlichen Untersuchung wurde mittels eines Fragebogens für alle Studierenden evaluiert. Im Gegensatz dazu erfolgte die Erhebung der praktischen Untersuchungsfertigkeiten nur bei den Studierenden der Interventionsgruppe. Diese wurden aufgefordert, eine allgemein-orientierende körperliche Untersuchung am Simulationspatienten durchzuführen, welche aufgezeichnet und standardisiert ausgewertet wurde. Beide Erhebungen erfolgten prä- und postinterventionell. Ergebnisse: Die Selbsteinschätzung der Studierenden von Interventions- (IG) und Kontrollgruppe (KG) verbessert sich signifikant im Prä-Post-Vergleich von den Durchschnittsnoten 3,83 (±0,72; IG) und 3,54 (±0,37; KG) auf 1,92 (±0,65; IG) und 3,23 (±0,73; KG). Die nur bei den Studierenden der Interventionsgruppe erhobene allgemein-orientierende körperliche Untersuchung wird nach der Lehrintervention vollständiger durchgeführt als zuvor.Diskussion: Aus den erhobenen Daten lässt sich ein positiver Effekt der FAMULATUR PLUS auf die Selbsteinschätzung Medizinstudierender hinsichtlich ihrer Fertigkeiten in der körperlichen Untersuchung ableiten. Limitiert wird die Aussagekraft durch die geringe Stichprobengröße. Zudem bleibt offen, ob eine positivere Selbstevaluation mit eine