The Free Land of Mallard is a massive, safe nation, ruled by Throckmorton with a fair hand, and remarkable for its daily referendums, punitive income tax rates, and stringent health and safety legislation. The compassionate, democratic population of 3.562 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, socially-minded, outspoken morass — juggles the competing demands of Education, Healthcare, and Administration. It meets to discuss matters of state in the capital city of QUACK. The average income tax rate is 80.6%, and even higher for the wealthy.

The strong Duck economy, worth 212 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 dominated by the Book Publishing industry, with significant contributions from Tourism, Basket Weaving, and Information Technology. Average income is 59,601 Seeds, and distributed extremely evenly, with practically no difference between the richest and poorest citizens.

Internet moderator is one of the most popular jobs among the nation's more socially awkward citizens, school lessons are constantly interrupted by 'teacher needs a break' time, one-man canoes fitted with the latest tracking technology leave no room for one man, and high-income earners pay a 100% tax rate. 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 soars majestically through the nation's famously clear skies, and its national religion is Eggnostic.

Mallard is ranked 265,960^th in the world and 245^th in Refugia for Most Corrupt Governments, with 0.71 kickbacks per hour.