I imagine Wahaha will rush to tell me that democracy in any form leads to social collapse and then list a bunch of countries that happen to be both democratic and poorly run. But the point is that the countryside and small towns in China are ALREADY poorly run. And it’s laughable to use the old “meritocracy” argument when you’re talking about a township government office where everyone is there because of some family member and a ton of the people aren’t even officially on the books but are being paid anyway.

I suppose another thing could help: that commitment the Chinese government recently made to taping interrogations. More taping—with public access to some of those tapes on request—could do some good.

I dunno, though… those are just some ideas.

“Corruption at the lower levels of government… What is the secret to stopping it?”

Simple: the law and China’s constitution. The real question is how does one change the legal system so that it protects the rights of citizens, and the rights of individual’s, and supports the constitution, rather than simply being a tool of control for the government (and local govs).

The gov/party must introduce greater transparency in all fields, at all levels, and must somehow cede power – unless there is a power balance, it will always be topsyturvy – to civil institutions and the legal system. Its a deep rut in which China is stuck though in this sense…