[sanoli]

Born and raised, and currently still living in a third world country. What you say is true, except for education. At least, I don't see how you lower corruption as a cultural value without increasing the quality and pervasiveness of education. Where 'having a little on the side' is pretty much a cultural norm, how do you change it, if not via long term improvement of the educational system as the base for all other efforts? I'm actually asking this question, because I don't know of anything that is more important than education. Everything else helps, but unless you change the culture of accepting corruption, and of being a little corrupt, it won't do. And yes, I did say 'being a little corrupt', because it pervades the culture. Whereas big shots steal thousands or millions, the average Joe also tries to get away with not paying taxes, tries to not really work when he gets his government job. This all happens in my country, you'd be surprised how corruption is not something that happens just at the top, but everywhere. The person who takes home the school cafeteria lunch out of greed, just because he can and it is paid by the government is just as guilty as the business man who bribes his way out of paying thousands in taxes. How do you change this culture?

[Mikeb85]

You need to

a) Pay people well enough to not feel the need to take bribes

b) Create harsh enough consequences that everyone thinks twice, and apply it universally. This doesn't mean a police state or even jail, but enough consequences that being corrupt isn't a worthwhile enterprise

My wife's country actually elected a government that isn't too terrible and is trying to change things, but the backlash caused by giving civil servants raises was fairly big. And the old government was undoubtedly corrupt, but prosecuting your political foes can cause issues, even if it's entirely just.

Education can help, but then again, it's not everything, and if there's no demand for educated labour, people drop out anyway.

People need to look at the least corrupt states in the world - we may bitch about it, but our politicians are paid very well, and while some are still corrupt, most aren't, and the scale of corruption here is far less than most countries.

[jaxr]

It sounds like you live next door :). The problem is indeed deep and complex. Educating the young is not nearly enough. IMO, there's a whole issue about educating the educators. I had a teacher in school who would give us the answers to a national standardized test as we were taking it! And I went to a 'good' private 'catholic' highschool! I'm kind of hopefull about initiatives like Kahn academy et al. However, we need to produce much more content in local languages, give access and teach how to self-educate responsibly.