Location: Federation of Democratic Republics

Overview • People • Government • Economy • Trend • Analysis

The Dominion of Shul is a colossal, cultured nation, ruled by Arch-President Paul Duncan with an iron fist, and renowned for its devotion to social welfare. Its hard-nosed, hard-working, cynical population of 5.716 billion are ruled by a mostly-benevolent dictator, who grants the populace the freedom to live their own lives but watches carefully for anyone to slip up.

It is difficult to tell where the omnipresent government stops and the rest of society begins, but it juggles the competing demands of Education, Healthcare, and Defence. It meets every day to discuss matters of state in the capital city of Shul City. The average income tax rate is 77%, and even higher for the wealthy. A powerhouse of a private sector is led by the Tourism, Book Publishing, and Arms Manufacturing industries.

Students abandon classrooms for online education, leather-clad individuals can be seen walking their slaves in public parks, murder victims' families receive windfall payouts when the murderers are executed, and angst-filled teenagers are rushing off to buy government bonds for some odd reason. Crime -- especially youth-related -- is totally unknown, thanks to the all-pervasive police force and progressive social policies in education and welfare. Shul's national animal is the dragonfly, which is also the nation's favorite main course, and its currency is the shula.

Shul is ranked 3rd in Federation of Democratic Republics and 14,811th in the world for Largest Public Sector, scoring 19 on the Bureaucratic Comprehensiveness Rating Scale Index.

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NationStates by Max Barry, author of and