Why has the government collapsed in the Reckoners alternative reality?

Question

In the Reckoners' universe, the government collapses because the epics are too powerful to be controlled, except by other, more powerful, epics. However, because all epics are evil, the epics all work against the government in one form or another.

In the parallel universe, some epics are good, and some are bad. This means that there should be some who work for the government, preventing its collapse. However, in none of the parallel universe scenes do we see any evidence of any law-enforcement. From this I conclude that there is no law in this universe either.

Why is this?

Answer 1

Just standard chaos would do it.

Keep in mind, we never really see enough of that "prime possibility" to know it's entire situation. Mostly we see epics in confrontations or fighting. No shock normals are behind shelter. So some shred of government might still be around, and even seeing law enforcement is fuzzy when you don't know whose law they're enforcing (Steelheart had cops, after all).

That said, just the fact that no Epic could be controlled can be enough to bring down governments. All it takes are some of the bad guys taking out, or taking over, enough cities or economy drivers. Even if the good guys suit up and take it back, it takes time, effort, and resources to rebuild. Enough of those and government no longer has resources to rebuild, let alone do little things like pay its law officers. Too many disasters and nothing is sustainable, and Epics qualify as disasters.