The Community of Western State University is a huge, safe nation, notable for its irreverence towards religion and stringent health and safety legislation. The hard-nosed, democratic population of 338 million Westerners 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 medium-sized, socially-minded government juggles the competing demands of Defense, Education, and Healthcare. The average income tax rate is 29.6%, but much higher for the wealthy.

The sizeable but stagnant Western economy, worth 5.33 trillion dollars a year, is quite specialized and dominated by the Trout Farming industry, with significant contributions from Beef-Based Agriculture, Book Publishing, and Retail. Black market activity is notable. State-owned companies are common. Average income is 15,758 dollars, and distributed extremely evenly, with practically no difference between the richest and poorest citizens.

Family isn't who you're born with but who you abandon in foreign countries, scientists regularly clone human beings for research purposes, the latest Harry Potter book is a bestseller, and most pop videos prominently feature the Western flag. Crime is totally unknown, thanks to a capable police force and progressive social policies in education and welfare. Western State University's national animal is the wildcat.

Western State University is ranked 220,451^st in the world and 611^th in California Colleges and Universities for Nicest Citizens, with 11.33 average smiles per day.