Theorists often begin with the elements or features of the rule of law, frequently distinguishing formal and substantive versions.1 Instead, I explore two other senses. The first sense is that the rule of law exists in a society when government officials and the populace are generally bound by and abide law. Framing the analysis in terms of a society subject to law enables a more expansive view of functions of the rule of law. The second sense construes “the rule of law” as an ideal and as rhetoric, asking what functions are served when people invoke it.