Socialization between animals was a huge progress boost in our history, but our species is not the only one that can socialize and communicate. Among social animals there is a tendency for an alpha to arise among the group, usually the strongest member. A group with an alpha can look to that leader for security as well as for decision making. Humans were not very different in this regard, often the strongest individual would take on a leadership role.
The leadership, which we’ll now call government, would eventually start to issue money to the people to exchange between them. It was the authority of the government that gave value to the money. In fact, the money often had a depiction of the leader’s face to further establish authority. Leaders could also demand money back from the people in the form of taxes, which could be reallocated to fund the many roles of the government. Eventually the government would take a role in educating their young, teaching them the ways of their own culture to pass down the traditions.
Although a leader should have a level head and make decisions based on long term consequences, they are a human just like you. As a human, that leader is susceptible to irrational and quick reactions when faced with a threat. Because of their widespread influence, the decisions of the individuals who happen to be in a leadership role have much more weight than the decisions of the average citizen. Since leaders are only human, their personal beliefs will influence their policies; a big problem when the leaders are racist or sexist.
Governments have successfully existed in a few different ways over our history but they all break down into two main types: a single person or small group rules the people, or the people rule themselves. The two types have opposite advantages and disadvantages.
The few ruling means that decisions get made quickly whether the people agree or not. For example, Alexander linked a huge portion of Asia in his irrational attempt to kill a fleeing enemy, conquering settlements as he went. This was a silly reason for a huge advancement in communication but the ends sometimes justify the means. Alexander never actually made it back home after his legendary chase.
The people ruling themselves means that everyone is given a voice, although it is difficult to listen to everyone’s voice when the population is too large. The more people who can speak their mind, the longer it will take to make a decision and act on it.
Let’s say you run for office and you win based on your platform of creating more parks. You get to the leader’s table and start talking to other representatives about backing your plan. You then meet another representative who wants to turn your potential park into a power plant for an energy company. You are offered a handsome bribe to back down from your parks idea and are told that you can make another park soon enough. You just got to the table so you don’t want to ruffle feathers, not a good way to make future connections, so you accept. The people you represent may or may not be happy with your decision but you are the one at the table so their opinions don’t matter as much as yours.