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Originally Posted by
Anna Banana 
It's hard to imagine preventing it in the books, because from the outside looking in, the Ministry needed to be corrupt for certain things, plot-wise, to happen. In the books, the Minister/Ministry is often seen as "the power(s) that be." In OotP, the Minister/Ministry's failure to support Harry in his time of need just added so much to the whole background of his story. A fifteen-year-old scholboy stood his ground, not only against the most evil wizard of all time, but also against the entire Ministry and the powerful man behind it.
During Fudge's reign of terror, I really don't think anything could have been done to bring him down. Doing so would have required a lot more time/effort than both Harry and Dumbledore had. There were a number of others who would have fought to bring down the corruption (i.e. Arthur and several others), but I think it would have required many more people stepping forward than just the few that I would imagine willing to doing so.
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Originally Posted by
milloy112 There would have obviously been a few ways that it could have not reached it's max but there woudl be a few ways that it wouldnt have started in the first place.
Firstly.
The main reason as lupin says is that his mind had been changed by fear. Fear does things to people and in this case it made fudge go 'Insane' if you take away the fear then the insanity would go away with it so if Voldemort never existed the Ministry wouldnt be under attack, Harry Potter wouldnt be in the ministry everytime something bad happens which would mean fudge would have less stress and less corruption.
Secondly.
If Dumbledore had taken the job as minister for magic in the first place then there wouldnt be any corruption as he is a good man.
Even though there was no chance that they could or would happen in the books are at 0% it would probably be the only way that it would have not reached as bad as it did but also Fudge was hanged by the ammount of power he had which shouldnt be given to one man.
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Originally Posted by
the.time.is.now Unfortunately, you have to remember the reason why Dumbledore didn't take the job. He was afraid of becoming power-hungry, because look at what happened to him when he was friends with Grindelwald. I think, even if Dumbledore were put into office, he might have his things here and there where he just wants to advance himself a little farther. It's human nature to want to be on top.
So what can you do to avoid this, really? Not much. Maybe put in a checks and balances system for the people in charge instead of the branches? But everyone's a little corrupt...
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Originally Posted by
Miss Lissy Lou That is completely true. There are lots of politicans who started out as someone we thought we could trust and then become greedy power hungry bosses and to be honest, there is no way to prevent it at all. It ultimately comes down to the individual and the choices they make--are they willing to risk everything at the chance to make themselves to gain something of importance to them?
Everyone, of course, has valid points. Corruption itself can stem from several different areas. It can start from the very top of the pyramid, with the most powerful, and it can begin at the lowest levels. This was a time in which there was general unrest in the Wizarding world; there were unexplained attacks and disappearances. For those who were old enough, it strongly resembled the days when Voldermort was most powerful.
Fudge felt the brunt of this fear and as he was the one who was completely in command, he collapsed under his own fear. Umbridge also showed signs of fear and mental instability at Hogwarts, especially when she stooped so low as to plan to perform an unforgiveable on Harry. I think a lot of the crumbling of the Ministry was down to the way the Ministry is ordered. With Fudge alone at the top, he had the power to do as he pleased with almost no obstruction (except Dumbledore).
I believe that in those circumstances, the Ministry's corruption would have been impossible to stop or even restrict. However, I think that in the future, it may be possible to keep pressure down to a minimum. Similar to a Board of Directors in a company, if the Ministry were to form a Committee of Ministers, in a sense, with a commander, then decisions would be made more rationally, and with all the factors considered.