I read a really interesting article years ago that spoke about that happening on Communist China back in Mao’s time. Essentially all the folks who were competent retired/replaced by folks with connections to the party not the role. Thus corruption infiltrated.

I can’t find the article and I don’t remember the professor’s name who wrote it but I remember thinking it was odd that a Chinese professor was writing about the government and letting it be published. I think he may have gotten in trouble after the fact or something else.