the idea that the jedi order "should have walked away from the republic because of its corruption" is very reflective of the weird all or nothing style of political thinking that's so trendy on the internet and we could argue all day about at what point is it a good idea to leave a corrupt political system but it's also pretty divorced from the plots of the films and the themes of the saga and the worldbuilding around the jedi because like
the corruption of the republic increases rapidly in the 10 years between tpm and aotc, and during the clone wars, encouraged by palpatine. the increasing corruption due to palpatine is literally a plot point and part of the big villain's plans, not a base setting of the republic. there was certainly corruption and inaction before but it was often challenged successfully - even in tpm, though palaptine engineers the vote of no confidence in valorum, it is passed by the senate majority who clearly find valorum's response to the trade federation's invasion of naboo to not be strong enough. in aotc, even after 10 years of palpatine as chancellor, it is still challenged and seems to have a good chance of being beaten - palpatine feels threatened enough by padmé's anti-military position that he tries to have her assassinated, nearly blowing his whole secret army plot, so it seems like he thought she and the other senators who were against a standing army had a pretty good chance of winning the vote.
the jedi also regularly challenge corruption where they find it - tcw is full of examples of this and that's when the jedi are distracted by a whole galatic war. one of my favourites is mace windu telling a senator he and their whole planet can shove it in defense of the last living zillo beast. but it is also an important plot point in rots that the jedi are investigating palpatine. despite palpatine's best efforts, they were able to find the source of many things getting worse, and they go to arrest him, to cut off the head of the snake. would that have solved all the corruption and issues in the republic? no, but it was a good start and probably would have led to them investigating his connections.
and to those "it doesn't matter that some people were trying, the republic was Too Corrupt and had fallen from grace before the movies even started and there's no hope of it becoming a force for good" arguments, you're missing one of the most vital messages of the whole star wars saga - you can always choose good and you CAN be better than you were. the point isn't trying to cleanse the sins of the past, it's making a better future. but a real chance for better existing is essential, especially in the prequels, where anakin has the potential to turn everything around and do the right thing, but chooses not to (until episode 6). if there was never any hope all along, you've taken the biggest message and the tragedy of anakin completely out of the story. you've nothing left but fun special effects and action pieces without all that.
i never see people argue that padmé and the other senators should have just thrown their hands up and walked away from the republic like they do for the jedi, which is weird because they're explicitly part of the political decision-making process and the jedi are not, though they can give advice. in fact, one of their main roles in the republic is diplomacy, because it's a given that there will be disagreements, trade disputes, and planets happy to fuck over other planets if it suits them. but diplomacy and the idea that these things can be worked out is a core part of the jedi's role and their beliefs. another central belief is their mission to help people, which is why palatine and dooku encourage the the CIS (that acronym makes me laugh every time) to be so over the top evil, like attacking hospitals and developing weapons that target all organic life, to make it impossible for the jedi to ignore all the suffering and just stay out of the war. so in what world would these same people walk away from the republic because it's been a really rough 13 or so years? especially when they're pursuing an avenue (investigating palaptine) that might turn things around? it doesn't really seem like the jedi have "lost their way" by sticking with the republic, like some claim, given what they're doing is very in line with their beliefs, but rather you want them to be fundamentally different characters with radically different beliefs. which is fine, but it means that all your analysis of the jedi is built on what you wish they were instead of what they actually are.
should the jedi have gotten more involved politically? maybe - there's reasons we could argue yes, in that it might help address the causes of issues in the republic rather than just treating the symptoms, and reasons we could argue no, such as how pursuing power, even with the best of intentions, can be dangerous for both jedi and everyone else, given that the jedi could fall to the dark side and there's very little normal people could do to stop them. but that argument is the opposite of "they should have just walked away, the republic was doomed to fail" and has a lot more nuance than "any interaction with any flawed institutions thereby makes them morally bad too".
if you were in their position, would you genuinely believe that walking away would lead to a better overall outcome? or do you just say they should have walked away to maintain some kind of moral purity at the expense of all the good they did and could do?
