This list of democratic countries is recommended for consumers who want to buy products made in a democracy (1). The name of the country where the product was made is on the product's label.

Households (consumers) have powerful control over a country's standard of living and standard of government. Household spending is 70% of the total goods and services bought per year (known as GDP -- Gross Domestic Product -- the most used indicator of an economy's health). The remaining 30% is government and business spending. Paychecks are possible mainly because of household spending. Therefore, consumer choices of products and services are important.

Democracies that are government sanctioned tax havens for secret bank accounts (2) or havens for child prostitution (3) are excluded from the following list.

Andorra, Argentina, Australia, Austria

Belgium, Benin, Botswana, Brazil, Bulgaria

Canada, Cape Verde, Chile, Croatia, Czech Republic

Denmark

El Salvador, Estonia

Finland, France

Germany, Ghana, Greece, Guyana

Hungary

Iceland, Indonesia, Ireland, Israel, Italy

Jamaica, Japan

Lithuania

Marshall Islands, Mauritius, Mexico, Mongolia, Montenegro

Namibia, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway

Palau, Peru, Poland, Portugal

Romania

San Marino, Sao Tome & Principe, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia, South Africa, South Korea, Spain, Suriname, Sweden

Taiwan, Tuvalu

United Kingdom, United States, Ukraine

(1) Freedom House. Freedom in the World. Electoral Democracies. 2010 Edition.

(2) Summary of the Stop Tax Haven Abuse Act: Senator Carl Levin: News Release. March 2, 2009

(3) U.S. Dept. of State. Trafficking in Persons Report 2010. Tier 2 Watch List and Tier 3.

For a list of U.S. states cutting global warming, see www.madeinstates.net

Send comments/questions to Kathleen P. O'Donnell (Reference Librarian) at: kathleenodonnellko@gmail.com