ABSTRACT
This chapter explains the basic patterns of the social construction of corruption in Germany by looking at individual cases of what Germans define as corruption, and to explaining what the potential reasons are for an understanding of corruption which is indeed rather strange for some outside observers. Politicians of parties represented in the so-called Kohl commission. This pertains to the parliamentary investigation of the German Bundestag between 1999 and 2002 into the illegal donation activities of the German Christian Democratic Party while Helmut Kohl was Chancellor. The Germans perceive themselves as citizens of a modern country, and that of course also means that corruption is not a problem or issue in Germany. Corruption is regarded as un-German, as incompatible with the cultural self-image of decent and responsible citizens. The explanation of corruption as a vehicle for the self-healing of the system proves to be a refined variation of the social construction of the myth of a corruption-free society.
