Reflections: Corruption 1. Painos

“We are the champions – of the world!” This line from a chart-topping rock ballad could have come from Mette Frisk Jensen, corruption expert at Aarhus University. A constitutional monarchy with its very own Queen, Denmark has long been among the world’s top-five least corrupt countries. Fortunately, kickbacks and pay-offs are not dissolving its social glue, which is more than a lucky blend of trust and democracy. But people might not expect to find Denmark’s way to the top paved by absolute monarchs, wars with Sweden, and even national bankruptcy.