It's better when "everyone tries to at-least appear to follow the rules" ? Isn't that worse than blatantly not following the rules, because at least you know what they are doing?
Following the rules in this case means actually providing the service that the government paid for. The government may overpay for a building because people skim off the top, but it's far less common for them to build something that's so poorly constructed that people can't actually use it. The first case is less efficient the second is useless.
