But in order to actually accomplish that, it needs to have the buy in of the masses, who would otherwise revolt to take away those privileges.
The common person needs to believe that they too are protected through the legal system, and so it is worth following the rules and forcing others to follow the rules. This is what makes it a Schelling point.
As an aside, the "drug war" has helped destroy this belief, especially harshest for minority communities. This has resulted in social breakdown and creation of movements like "stop snitching" and Black Lives Matter.
I'm not suggesting cynicism here or that the common person "shouldn't" matter or be protected.
There's a very cogent argument about the development of laws as a way for elites to pragmatically secure their prerogatives, historically, by North, Wallis, and Weingast. Their book is "Violence and Social Orders" and there's a good paper on it here: http://www.nber.org/papers/w12795
The common person needs to believe that they too are protected through the legal system, and so it is worth following the rules and forcing others to follow the rules. This is what makes it a Schelling point.
As an aside, the "drug war" has helped destroy this belief, especially harshest for minority communities. This has resulted in social breakdown and creation of movements like "stop snitching" and Black Lives Matter.