The phenomenon of corruption in consolidated democracy. The case of Finland

Abstract

The phenomenon of corruption in consolidated democracies has been ignored for a long time by academics. Nevertheless in the last decade of the XX century new factors have emerged leading to the institutionalization of an issue of corruption in the advanced democracies. This change can be observed also in the case of Finland, which is perceived as one of the least corrupt country in the world according to the Corruption Perception Index published by the Transparency International. However, also in Finland a specific forms of corruption can be found. The article aims at description of the ‘old brothers networks‘ as a corrupt practices peculiar to Finland. The author seeks to present an institutionalization of the ‘old brothers network’ issue and the problems related to an occurrence of this phenomenon in Finnish public sphere. Primarily, it is argued that Finland has witnessed a redefinition of informal, consensus-based practices, which commonly had been accepted as a part of the political system, into the practices defined as corrupt. The subtle nature of these practices is a reason behind difficulties with classifying them as a clear-cut forms of abuse of power for private gain.