  Nevertheless, concerns about the ideological impact of proceduralism do not call into question the valuable role that the rule of law itself should play, even in the most ambitious egalitarian community. The potential for a dismissive approach to law, perhaps, along with the general decline of the influence of Marxism, accounts for why some recent literature has avoided the term ‘ideology’ and opted instead for terms like ‘discourse’ or ‘narrative’. Such terms also suggest that law should be understood in a political context, but they are less specific about the nature of that context or its impact.  This seems a loss. Properly understood, the concept of ideology offers a nuanced and illuminating approach to legality that gives a precise rendering of the relation between law and politics that need not be nihilist or reductionist. After all, a proper understanding of the ideological role of law is compatible with other conceptions of how law is to be defined or understood.  This is particularly so if we recognize the improbability of eliminating altogether ideological modes of understanding. 