Yeah it's basically baked into the system. Politicians will be politicians and there are other checks and balances like the vote that are supposed to keep them reigned in. Not excusing bad behavior on the part of politicans, but as voters we could excercise more control over them if we were more educated and organized. There are too many crappy politicians that aren't afraid for their jobs.

This is obviously simplifying and ignores other urgent problems like gerrymandering, vote suppression, and money in politics.