I don't think you can solve these problems with a stick. Quite the contrary I think that is part of the problem. The more laws and rules you enact, the more la

I don't think you can solve these problems with a stick. Quite the contrary I think that is part of the problem. The more laws and rules you enact, the more laws and rules you see people ignore and break. This just undermines totally respect for law and order. I believe in what economist Hernando de Soto has said about laws: Laws are discovered not made. You need to align laws with what is actually acceptable in your country at the moment. You cannot escape into a rosy Utopia where your underdeveloped country is going to somehow emulate a rich well developed democracy over night, by enacting the same laws. How a country works, and its laws are two different things. On paper Russia is an amazing democracy. In practice not so much. I see developing trust and confidence in the laws of the land is the most important thing you can do. For that to happen I think you simply need to legalize a lot of the crimes everybody does. Once you get people to actually respect and follow the laws you have, you gradually start tightening those laws. You gradually try to nudge people towards better behavior. Transparency is more important than strict laws IMHO. If e.g. a particular government official takes a $5 bribe for every application, then make it public and legal. Post a note that says you pay him or her $5 for the application. You know that fees where originally illegal bribes?