"people are inherently flawed and self-conflicted"

Not inherently. We are nurtured and bred to be that way. Precisely in order to be exploitable. However, even the exploiters nowadays don't give it too much thought and just use the opportunity. Historically, this is rather recent development. Wars, organized crime, enslavement, military conquest, theft of land, etc. are here only with advent of Sumerian model of civilization c. 6K yrs. ago.

https://senderspike.medium.com/the-rise-of-empires-ba74657519bb

But yes, politicians (authoritarian, democratic, anything in between), as all propagandists, are merely a specialized case of priests.

https://senderspike.medium.com/new-world-order-b1cf6e4deb8

https://senderspike.medium.com/be-first-df4ba8f44556

Ah, and one "bottom-line" remark. I don't think we can escape myth-making.

https://senderspike.medium.com/modern-mythology-52498801ab24