An Iraqi voter's purple finger (Source: Department of Defense)

In the U.S., fewer than half of eligible voters do vote, elections are determined by big money, sitting politicians almost always win re-election, and opinion surveys show a frightening willingness to sacrifice fundamental human rights for governmental promises of security. It's not surprising, then, that U.S. foreign policy furthers sham democracies abroad. Michael Slackman observes that in the Middle East elections have "increasingly become a tool used by authoritarian leaders to claim legitimacy. ... Countries like Egypt and Syria, which hold elections, also allow a ruling class to hold a monopoly on power, limit freedom of speech and assembly and deny their citizens due process. ... 'Democracy itself has lost credibility as a way of government,' said a Western diplomat based in Algiers. ... 'I think the Iraqi experiment, and the purple finger, didn't help anything.' ... The purple finger had initially been a symbol of pride in what was hoped to be Iraq's nascent democracy. Millions turned out to cast their ballots in the first post-Saddam-Hussein election, dipping a finger in ink to prevent double voting. Rightly or wrongly, the purple finger has become a symbol of failure."

From the Killer Coke campaign

After the International Labor Organization included Australia on a list of 25 countries of concern, the Australian government lashed out. The Minister for Workplace Relations, Joe Hockey, claimed that the Australian Council of Trade Unions (ACTU) had lobbied to have Australia included -- instead of Colombia, where many labor leaders have been assassinated. The ACTU's international officer, Alison Tate, countered that international unions want scrutiny of Colombia. Tate told the Sydney Morning Herald that it was representatives from the International Organization of Employers who vetoed listing Colombia -- in particular, Ed Potter, the Coca-Cola Company's Director of Global Labor relations. Numerous union leaders and workers in Coke's Colombian bottling plants have been murdered, tortured and kidnapped by paramilitary groups, according to the Killer Coke campaign. The campaign supports legal action against Coke and is pressing the company to "prevent further bloodshed and to provide safe working conditions."