The text deals with a somewhat neglected aspect of the rule of law, itssociological dimensions. Studying the rule of law involves getting answers to two relatedquestions, about the rule of law, before one can say what the law should be like toachieve it.First, : what is the point, the value, of the rule of law, what is it supposed toachieve; this is the philosophical element. Second, what, in light of that value, do youneed to have in a society and legal order, in order to achieve that value? This will involveconsidering sociological, political (and economic) conditions. Though both questionsare important, the author focuses in this text primarily on the second question. Heexamines the social bases of law and the rule of law, pointing out their complexity andvariety in different times and contexts. Typically, by contrast, lawyers discuss the rule oflaw as though it was a thing to be defined by specific legal institutional attributes, whichone should expect to find wherever the rule of law can be found. Unless the point of therule of law and its social and political conditions are taken into account, however, theinstitutional recipies typically offered by rule of law promoters are merely floating in theair. Even if they might work somewhere, they might fail elsewhere, as many rule of lawpromotion programs have shown. Institutional prescriptions need to be grounded in anunderstanding of the value of the rule of law, and in the particular social and politicalconditions where one seeks it. In light of that value and those conditions, one can thenask what legal institutional measures — in this society at this time — are most likely tohelp one achieve the rule of law, in a particular society, with particular social and legalhistories, traditions, and practices. Typically, however, lawyers ignore these issues, andstart with some confident, but often misplaced, universal institutional conception of whatthe rule of law requires from law. That leaves a systematic gap in our understanding. Thisarticle aims to fill this gap.