>>President Marcos of the Philippines was able to obtain 100% voter participation. He simply stated everyone age 12 or older would vote in that countries presidential election or go to jail. Democracy in action!
>
>A colleague from Taiwan said the near-100% particiaption there was done through capitalism. Candidates would literally pass out cash to voters at the polls, and campaign mambers would observe to be sure the vote was for the right candidate.
>
>Usually about $15 (US), after bidding and negotiation, he said, was the going vote price about 10-15 years ago.

The argument could be made that we do that here as well. One party bribes voters directly by reducing taxes, and the other indirectly by providing special interest progams (welfare, affirmative action, government loans, etc.) It's just not quite so "in your face" here in the US.