The Free Land of Mallard is a mammoth, socially progressive nation, ruled by Throckmorton with a fair hand, and notable for its daily referendums, restrictive gun laws, and suspicion of poets. The compassionate, democratic population of 8.598 billion Ducks love a good election, and the government gives them plenty of them. Universities tend to be full of students debating the merits of various civil and political rights, while businesses are tightly regulated and the wealthy viewed with suspicion.

The government — a sprawling, bureaucracy-choked, outspoken morass — juggles the competing demands of Education, Environment, and Administration. It meets to discuss matters of state in the capital city of QUACK. The average income tax rate is 80.4%, and even higher for the wealthy.

The very strong Duck economy, worth 527 trillion Seeds a year, is driven entirely by a combination of government and state-owned industry, with private enterprise illegal. The industrial sector, which is highly specialized, is led by the Book Publishing industry, with major contributions from Tourism and Pizza Delivery. Average income is 61,329 Seeds, and distributed extremely evenly, with practically no difference between the richest and poorest citizens.

The aims of top-secret Duck science projects revolve around designing the perfect robot woman, politicians bribe ten-year-old geniuses to sit their aptitude tests, small towns have started burning historical buildings in hopes of attracting tourists, and the jails are alive with the sound of birdsong. Crime, especially youth-related, is totally unknown, thanks to a well-funded police force and progressive social policies in education and welfare. Mallard's national animal is the White Call Duck, which is also the nation's favorite main course, and its national religion is Eggnostic.

Mallard is ranked 102,470^th in the world and 145^th in Refugia for Most Developed, scoring 60.87 on the Human Development Index.