Im reflecting from the pov of a parents role re: the kids. If you give the kids what they want, its going to be soda and candy every day of their lives. Some deciaions are tough, e.g. delayed gratification, and holding ones ground, but do voters even care about stuff like that?
Can we even hope on common sense, when the population is concerned?
The role of the government is to thread the needle of identifying who has power (including your common labor) and creating a consensus among them that prevents a civil war. It however usually becomes captured and ossified and is unable to identify when certain power blocks have reached their red lines that will topple the whole damn thing until a new government forms. Mandate of heaven essentially. Paternalistic or will of the people are legitimacy building frames but the reality is always material.