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A related option is teaching the poor abouttheir rights. It can show them that the law ison their side, or that it is deficient and shouldbe changed, or that they should be confidentin pressing for the reform of bad laws or theimplementation of good ones. Non-formal legaleducation (NLE, as opposed to formal law schooleducation) is geared toward making the disadvantagedmore legally self-sufficient by buildingtheir legal capacities. It can take place throughcommunity training sessions, radio and televisionbroadcasts, theatre plays, and printed and audiovisualmaterials and, as discussed below, paralegaldevelopment. A crucial point about theseeducational efforts is that they must be pitchedat the levels of sophistication of lay people andtheir particular situation. Effective NLE typicallyborrows from more general international developmentpedagogy in that it is interactive and creative.It may feature such techniques as discussions,games, role-playing and quizzes.Before interventions are considered, however, itis useful to investigate what causes the lack ofinformation, why market forces do not provide asolution for this, and what are the consequencesof this lack of information for the provision ofjustice services to the poor. In an efficient marketfor justice services, prospective consumers wouldbe able to evaluate their own legal needs andseek out appropriate providers. Furthermore, consumerinformation about the nature and qualityof the legal services offered would ensure that themarket price for legal services reflects the valueof that service to consumers. Not all prospectiveconsumers need to be perfectly informed,because the prices themselves would conveyinformation (cf. Schwartz and Wilde 1979).Nonetheless, a critical mass of informed potentialconsumers is necessary for the market to allocatelegal services efficiently. If a population of potentialconsumers lacks sufficient basic informationon what legal services are available, their benefitsand costs they involve, and how to evaluate theirquality, then the market is unlikely to allocatelegal services efficiently even if potential consumerswould be willing to pay a price that potentialsuppliers would accept.Lack of sufficient information about legal rightsand entitlements, and about available legal services,is thus problematic for the poor themselvesand also causes justice services to be insufficientlyresponsive to the needs of the poor. Butwhy does this lack of information arise? In mostmarkets, consumers learn information about serviceavailability and quality from three sources.The first source of information is the suppliers,who typically have an incentive to disseminateinformation about the services they provide. Thesecond source of consumer information consistsof other consumers — either directly of indirectlythrough the price mechanism. The third sourceof information is general media coverage. Ifthese three sources of information are sufficientin most consumer markets, why might they notbe sufficient to communicate information aboutrights and legal services to poor communities?Understanding the answer to this question willhelp reformers design interventions that are appropriatelytargeted to the underlying problems.We consider first the question. Why might legalservice providers not disseminate the relevantinformation? There are several likely explanations.First, there may not be providers willing to offerlegal services to a given population at the priceconsumers would be willing or able to pay. If thatis the reason, then the lack of legal informationis a consequence of some other market failure.This suggests that lack of legal information maysometimes be more symptom than disease. Second,general information about legal rights and20