Logically, I agree with altruism that fosters rational, peaceful, equitable governance via laws enacted by elected officials and adjudicated for Constitutionality by courts. However, humans just ain't that way when it comes to their marked self-interests. Realistically, Historically, and Practically, politics is simply a human convention for one or more groups to gain an enforceable advantage over other one or more groups. (Insert greed, avarice, criminality, prejudice, profit, confiscation, etc for meaningful precision). Politics as practiced in government, businesses, social groups, religion, families, whatever is basically a mechanism to prevent human violence towards each other. That's why legislative and social compromise work, and are essential for civilized societies. (Defined crime being an exception). Political Altruism is a laudable goal, but impracticable and unrealistic. It's the peoples' responsibility to determine the nature, scope and function of politics/politicians. Such is an endless, very difficult job. Note: Human Evolution while a "sparkling" improvement over Nature "Red with Tooth and Claw", still reverts to the primitive as "if H. Sapiens were only 20 years out of a tree" as the events of the 20th century attest. I prefer the voting booth, and jaw boning my elected representatives for my vested interests, with or without "success".