Chapter 10 discusses the significance of qualitative differences among cultural, social, and political contexts, some of which are likely to support, and others undermine, the chances of tempering power. In some cultures, the notion that ruling power should and can be routinely and institutionally tempered, and that law is up to the job, is well embedded. In others it is heresy. And in any societies there are competing cultures, acted upon by internal and external forces. Some forms of society – particularly civil societies – are congenial contexts for tempered power. Other forms – ‘sacks of potatoes’ and polarised communities – are not. Some polities, such as despotisms and dictatorships, spurn tempering. Some forms of democracy support it; in some there is tension between the two. In contemporary elected populisms, tempering of the power of the ruler is undermined systematically and often with the help of law. And everything connects. Law is one domain among others and not always the most important.