The rule of law is an open concept with a rich connotation whereas social management evolves with the development of society，the continuous enhancement of people’s legal consciousness and the enrichment of people’s experience of the rule of law. The two form a logical relationship of being supplementary to each other，checking and balancing each other，and encompassing each other. Currently the most prominent problems in social management include the tardiness in the performance of functions，the weakening of authority，the backwardness of methods，and the localization of interest. In order to development an effective and lasting social management mode，it is necessary to bring social management into the orbit of the rule of law. Namely，subjects of social management must take the idea of the rule of law as their base point，measures of social management must take legal methods as its basis，functions of social management must take legal principles as their boundary，processes of social management must take legal procedures as their starting and end points，responsibilities of social management must take legal supervision as the safeguards，and assessment of social management must take legal values as its criteria.