I think corruption is less of an ethical problem than an organizational problem. If the structure of society is such that people have the power to become corrupt, they will become so (for example if the law is defect).
In theory it would work if people could be convinced to just be more ethical, but I don't think that is a feasible solution.
> If the structure of society is such that people have the power to become corrupt, they will become so (for example if the law is defect).
The necessary and sufficient condition for corruption is the ability to make decision on someone else's behalf. Given that, the decision maker can be corrupt, law or no law.
When {whatever} is regulated, the regulators will be bought and sold by folks who have interests in {whatever}.
Note that money isn't the biggest/most power source of corruption. In fact, it's among the weakest. Folks who can be bought don't stay bought. The true believers cause the real damage.
I wish it could be that simple. In societies with low corruption it is this way mostly because people don't think about it, or are ashamed of it, much more then having mechanisms that catch them. Short term, yes, it's an organizational problem. But long term it can only be an ethical one, and it's not easy to solve this way.
I think it is not only mechanisms that catch them, it is putting people in positions where they can abuse their power to begin with. I would expect that most of the time in "western" societies people in power don't have the absolute power, they are more bureaucrats. For example, suppose you want to start a business and you need approval from a state official. In a corrupt country, maybe if that official says no, you are screwed. In other countries there are regulations for what you have to do to start a business. If one official tries to reject you even though you did everything the right way, you could go to court and force the official to approve your business. So the official does not have the absolute power he has in other countries.
In theory it would work if people could be convinced to just be more ethical, but I don't think that is a feasible solution.