Being from the sub-continent, low-level and bureaucratic corruption is a big pervasive problem. Corruption in general. From the lower office peons to the highest officers the rot runs deep. Bribing to even get basic paperwork done is common. How do countries like China and others in the “First World” handle it?
Is it a culture thing? or something else?
Strong democratic mechanisms, transparency in law and practice, regular internal audits from multiple agencies, hard codified governmental policies that are widely known and will be noticed if bypassed, regular financial audits of any individuals in positions to commit corruption. Devil’s in the details on anti-corruption policies. All of this is only possible if you have some forces in the state that are anti-corruption and can begin instituting these policies. If the top of political leadership is rotten then it will all rot from the head.
That’s what I wanna understand. What causes leadership of some countries to have the will to be against corruption while leaders in some countries couldn’t care less or worse, actively enable it.