back of a spreadsheet; back of the net

As a working model I think politics, particuarly democratic politics exists to do these five jobs.

To coordinate collective activity.

To avoid inefficient Nash equilibria.

To provide a framework for spontaneous conflict resolution.

To provide a common framework for private interaction.

To bind our drunk future selves to the resolutions of our wiser soberer selves.

The US Civil War is an example of it failing at all five simultaneously.

How that came about and how it can be avoided in the near future are worth thinking about.