Some interesting historical background:

http://www.uscatholic.org/church/2008/07/if-church-isnt-a-democracy-what-it

Key:
Thirty years after Vatican II, McKenzie's words, written in 1966, still ring true: We must under present forms await the decision of authority for any modification in the structure. The great change initiated by John XXIII is that he invited public discussion of such problems . . . [but] real change means that authority in the Church recognizes the power and authority which belong to the faithful by the constitution of the Church, not by pontifical largesse. 

Other background:

People, Priests, and Prelates: Ecclesiastic Democracy and the Tensions of Trusteeism
Volume 8 of Notre Dame Studies in American Catholicism
Volume 8 of Studies in American Catholicism
Notre Dame Studies in Law and Contemporary Issues 
Author Patrick W. Carey 
Publisher University of Notre Dame Press, 1987 

Ethnic differences created the trusteeism issues - not corruption.