Great question.

If we presume that we will always exist in systems of people, and that there will always be potential bad actors seeking leverage and opportunity to grift through power, we need strong effort by the electorate to elect “good candidates” for lack of a better term. Sometimes we love the wrong people, sometimes we trust the wrong people. Our governance systems should be designed to accelerate good people, and impair bad people until they can be recalled or replaced through elections.

As always, think in systems. If our systems are suboptimal for the target outcome, we must decompose and understand the system, and improve the components that are leading to the suboptimal outcome. I would encourage you to run for office as well. The solution is straightforward: get good people who give a shit into positions of leverage and power, and get out of their way. "One of the penalties for refusing to participate in politics is that you end up being governed by your inferiors." —- Plato