A polity is an operating system for a society. It is unsurprising that its structure more reflects the intent of its users (pols) than of the cogs (techs) with which it is implemented.

As Senator Greenspun famously said ten times, any sufficiently large or agèd polity contains an ad hoc, informally-specified, bug-ridden, creaky implementation of half of the Commons. (Yes, Jamie, including the Commons.)

Fortunately, the cogs are also users, if we remember to be. This is one of the strongest arguments I know for open source.