In literature, the moral value of the Rule of Law ideal (ROL) is mainly is grounded in its support for liberal agency. As such, ROL is considered to have bearing on the question of legitimacy insofar as it restricts arbitrary power. However, this bearing is arguably weak and contingent, as it is recognized that its substantive constraint on legal content is rather limited. My project seeks to defend a more robust ROL-legitimacy connection by drawing on a less expounded notion ‘pacification’, which refers to a task, I argue, inherent in the claim of legitimacy. This interpretation re-orients ROL’s foundation from liberal agency to politically inspired fear. The finding shows ROL’s universal appeal that transcends liberalism, which will be of interest to readers coming from non-western intellectual and cultural backgrounds.