Denmark Tops Transparency International’s list of Corruption-Free Nations

Rooting out corruption from all various levels of governance is a hallmark of good governance. Denmark appears to be a consistent highest top scorer in Transparency International's (TI) Corruption Perception Index (CPI) for two straight years.

According to the international anti-corruption watchdog, bribery and other overt as well as subtle forms of corrupt practices are largely unheard of in the Scandinavian nation.

Strong enforcement of Denmark's stringent laws on various forms of corruption has been a source of national pride- overt bribes and grease payments are one and the same thing under the Danish Criminal Code.

Being least-corrupt does not literally mean absolute perfection. Nevertheless, containing corruption so effectively is still an impossible feat in many countries where clean and honest governance is more of an exception rather than a norm.

Denmark also shares a set of values and characteristics common to all Nordic countries. The country is followed by Finland, Sweden, and Norway not far behind in the list.

What does it take to be included into the elite club of least corrupt countries?

Extracted from the Berlin-based anti-corruption think tank's official statement, the characteristics include "high levels of press freedom; access to budget information so the public knows where money comes from and how it is spent; high levels of integrity among people in power; and judiciaries that don't differentiate between rich and poor" as quoted in a report by The Local.

Although corruption remains endemic in most countries worldwide, TI has seen improvements in 64 countries (a good number) and decline in 53.

"The 2015 Corruption Perceptions Index clearly shows that corruption remains a blight around the world. But 2015 was also a year when people again took to the streets to protest corruption - people across the globe sent a strong signal to those in power: it is time to tackle grand corruption," remarked Transparency chief Jose Ugaz as mentioned in a report by Calgary Herald.

The index makes use of expert-based assessments of corruption mainly in public sector and looks at a diverse range of factors including accountability of elected and non-elected leaders, prevalence of bribery, and quality of institutional response to citizens' demands and needs as stated in an article by The Hindu.