According to the latest report from Transparency International, NZ and Denmark are top of the list for being clean countries. Clean means not corrupt. They both scored 91 out of a possible 100, so there is still room for improvement. This report comes from a Corruption Perception Index. Perception means that people believe New Zealand and Denmark are not corrupt but of course corruption is often hidden.
Transparency International looks at the public rather than private face of a country. This includes politicians, police, judges and public officials. For example, if a police officer accepts bribes or rewards, this is a criminal offence. Very occasionally, a public figure in New Zealand is found guilty of corruption but it is not common.
Listen to December 1st 2009 to hear more the Corruption Perception Index.
Vocabulary
- corrupt (adj), corruption (n) – dishonest behaviour especially involving money, accepting bribes
- transparency (n) – a window is transparent (adj). You can see through it when it is clean.
- index – here it means a list of numbers, a rating given to a country
- occasionally – not often, seldom