You are right. Bribes and threats can be most pesuasive.
Even a "principled person" would have to do some serious thinking if a large amount of money was offered. A hefty bribe can fix a lot of life's problems....cure ill relatives, send children to college, replace a leaking roof, new cars, paying off debt, etc. The larger the bribe, the harder it would be to refuse.
Verbal threats, of course, could be dismissed. But violent and demonstrative threats...like your car burned, bricks through your windows, children approached, or your dog nailed to your front door, etc., would cause one to seriously stop and think if it was really worth it.
This is how the NSDAP (the Nazi Party) established itself... rule with an iron fisted group of brownshirts "explaining things" to the good townsfolk.
Not sure how I would respond, without actually being put in the situation.
offers one can’t refuse: take the silver or you’ll get the lead. Corruption rules and this current government is as corrupt as it can possibly get.