It is perhaps a false perception among economist and political pundits that democratic country will not be corrupt or less corrupt. However, if we look at the corruption perception index of varous countries issued by varous organizations such as Transparancy International, there is no corelation between democracy and corruption. Some countries even with lesser degree of democracy have done better in curbing corruption. So, democracy may be a necessary condition for eradicating corruption but not sufficient alone. An adequate level of education among the citizens is also essential for curbing corruption along with vibrant democracy. Through education public can well understand what is good for individual, society and nation and accordingly they can elect their representatives to govern. Educated society will also provide many civil socities that will fight for the legitimate cause of people including fighting corruption.
Only framing rule will not curb corruption. One has to see how pragmatic anti-corruption policies and laws are put in place and strong institutional mechanism is there to implement these policies and laws.
Moreover, cultural values of the society has to be shaped by government and social leader so that people should not indulge in corruption. We should take lessons from countries that has large variation in corruption level in different regions of the country due to wide variations in culture and civil values.