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Rasmus Salbøg Kristensen
Town judges, the Danish absolute monarchy, and corruption
An honest and loyal public servant is primarily associated with a modern public servant as defined by Max Weber. This has led to the assumption that the honest public servant has emerged in a natural prolongation in the appearance of a modern public servant. During the 18th century byfogedembedet (the position of town judge) experienced a very distinctive development, which meant that byfogden (the town judge) by the beginning of the 19th century appeared as a very characteristic representative of the modern public servant who appeared in the Danish local administration during the late period of absolutism. However, during the 1820's there was a long list of cases of corruption against Government officials, which challenge the assumption of an unambiguous connection between the appearence of a modern and an honest public servant. In the light of two cases of corruption against two byfogder in the county of Aarhus, the article offers an analysis of the Danish state apparatus treatment of the two corrupt recorders and hence upon the demands required by the State towards byfogden as Government official. The article thus explores different problems and connections, which can help explain the presence or absence of corruption in the public administration.
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