Doubtless law does have distinctive resources to offer the tempering of power, and Chapter 8 considers some of them. It discusses the significance of the letter of the law but notes that it can conceal arbitrary abuse by acting as camouflage for what is really happening. It is also susceptible to the phenomenon of dual statehood, where the law follows the letter in some domains and for some people and is ignored in others and for others. It can also be manipulated by contemporary populists who often ‘rule by cheating’. Philosophers have commended law of a certain character, so that it be predictable, but that too is subject to manipulation. A lot depends on the kind of legal traditions that the legal order embodies. Law is a crucial frame for interactions, solving a lot of problems ahead of time and engendering possibilities of deliberative adjudication. However, it needs a lot of support from sources outside the law itself.