Most people take the terms order, law, and government to be coextensive.
Without government, there would be no law. Without law, there would be no social order. In fact, however, the three concepts are distinct. Law may be defined as that institution or set of institutions in a given society that adjudicates conflicting claims and secures compliance in a formal, systematic, and orderly way. Indeed, the vast bulk of cooperation in society in fact depends on informal order rather than on law.