If anything, what’s “new” would be any widespread-among-the-proletariat expectation that governments aren’t just a mixture of personalities assembled into ad hoc and historical factions feuding to control as much money and power as possible.

I would like to learn more about common views on this. Would my belief above actually be true going back as long as monarchies have existed, until maybe post WW2?

I’d see it as a magical period between WW2 and today where the belief was in fairness and universal rule of law.