Nation/Free Pacific States
| Federated Alliance of Free Pacific States | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
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| Motto: Forged from War, Dedicated to Peace | ||||
| Capital | Liberty City | |||
| Largest city | Faramount | |||
| Official languages | None | |||
| Recognised national languages | English | |||
| Ethnic groups (2015 Estimate) | 99% Human 1% Other | |||
| Demonym | Free Pacifican | |||
| Government | Federal Presidential Constitutional Republic | |||
| - | President | Christopher Arctoris | ||
| - | Vice President | Julian Reynolds | ||
| - | Speaker of the Assembly | Jacob Gustafson | ||
| - | Chief Justice | Alwyn Landry | ||
| Legislature | Conclave | |||
| - | Upper house | Council of the Alliance | ||
| - | Lower house | Assembly of Representatives | ||
| History | ||||
| - | Independence from the Packo Empire | 1878 | ||
| - | Ratification of the Charter of the Alliance of Free Pacific States | 1920 | ||
| - | Ratification of the Constitution of the Federated Alliance of Free Pacific States | 1949 | ||
| Area | ||||
| - | Total | 1,684,000 km2 650,196 sq mi |
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| Population | ||||
| - | 2015 estimate | 346,979,780 | ||
| - | 2010 census | 321,427,627 | ||
| - | Density | 206/km2 533.7/sq mi |
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| GDP (PPP) | 2015 estimate | |||
| - | Total | $23.1 trillion | ||
| - | Per capita | $66,600 | ||
| GDP (nominal) | 2015 estimate | |||
| - | Total | $23.1 trillion | ||
| - | Per capita | $66,600 | ||
| Gini (2015) | 32.2 medium |
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| HDI (2015) |  .944very high |
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| Currency | Dollar (FD) |
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| Date format | MM/DD/YYYY | |||
| Drives on the | right (side of road) | |||
| Calling code | +9 | |||
| ISO 3166 code | FPS | |||
| Internet TLD | .fps .fa .fafps | |||
The Federated Alliance of Free Pacific States is a federal presidential constitutional republic comprising five states and a federal district. The nation is situated in Southeast Yasteria, just South of Pax Draconica, and just North of East Malaysia. The Federated Alliance shares a land border with Pax Draconica and the Lyon Republic, even though the Free Pacific States is largely comprised of an archipelago. The nation has a largely temperate climate. The Federated Alliance is amongst the largest and most highly populated nations on Urth with approximately 341,852,000 persons inhabiting its 1,684,000 square kilometers. It is one of Urth's most ethnically diverse and multicultural nations, the product of large-scale immigration from many countries.
Codex colonized what is now the Free Pacific States in the mid-ninth century, though indigenous peoples of Asian origin inhabited the area for thousands of years prior to that point. The native population was greatly reduced by disease and warfare after Codexian contact, however, and now comprises only a minority of the population. The Codexians withdrew in the mid seventeenth century, at which point Infinite Loop invaded the area, ruling it until the Packo Empire took it over in the late eighteenth century. In the late nineteenth century, the five current states of the Federated Alliance broke off from the collapsing Packo Empire, forming five independent nations. Those countries slowly unified over the next half century, especially after the Looplite invasion of 1937, and officially formed one nation in 1949. The Federated Alliance remained isolationist until the 1990s, but has subsequently risen to become a major world power.
The Federated Alliance is a developed country with a high standard of living, a medium level of income inequality, and a sizable global domestic product. The Federated Alliance is a post-industrial nation, though it retains substantial manufacturing and agricultural industries. The Federated Alliance is enjoying a decade-long, immense economic boom thanks to the Pax trade agreement, which has driven the nation's GDP to an estimated $23.1 trillion in 2015. The Free Pacifican economy is largely driven by information technology, manufacturing, agriculture, and the service sector.
Contents
Etymology
The Codexian historian Walter Resetin coined the term Free Pacific States in 1884, using the phrase in a history textbook when discussing the cultural similarity of the five former Codexian colonies. Resetin noted that despite entirely different political systems, the people of all five nations greatly valued personal freedom, and strongly desired to avoid any future conflict after years of war with the Packo Empire. The expression quickly caught on in academia. Few Free Pacificans used the phrase until the 1920s, when the drafters of the Charter of the Alliance of Free Pacific States adopted it. Most of the authors of the charter hailed from academia, and advised the use of the expression given its wide international acceptance.
History
The Codex Conclave colonized the Free Pacifican archipelago in the ninth century. The Codexians did not attempt to disenfranchise the native inhabitants, but Codexian diseases wiped through most of the original population in months despite the best efforts of the Codexians. Codex ruled the area until 1676, when the increasingly progressive Conclave granted independence to all of its colonies. The now-former Codexian colonies established "New Codex," a constitutional republic that thrived over the next several decades. But Infinite Loop invaded New Codex in 1735, quickly disposing of the republican regime. The Looplites divided the former nation into five territories for administrative purposes, and appointed a governor to oversee government operations in each area. Infinite Loop did not attempt much cultural assimilation during its rule, instead focusing largely on material gains. The Packo Empire captured the archipelago from Infinite Loop in 1787 during the Packo-Looplite War. The Packo Emperor granted de jure independence to the five Looplite territories, but installed puppet governments to ensure de facto loyalty. The Empire dominated the governments until the early 1800s, when it granted the local administrations limited control over certain domestic issues, but retained power over foreign, military, and most economic affairs.
The five puppet states each declared independence during the late nineteenth century. The Packo Empire made a limited attempt to regain control, but recognized each state in 1878 after several failed military campaigns. The Packo Empire collapsed not long after that point, and many of its colonies followed the example set by the Free Pacific States. Despite close cultural and economic ties, the five colonial territories became separate nations, continuing two-hundred year old internal divisions. Faramount and Mangek established absolute monarchies, while Beren created a constitutional monarchy, and Zalebano and Tilden formed constitutional republics. These five nations bickered constantly regarding maritime boundaries, natural resources, and other issues.
Strategic maneuvering amongst the states sparked war in 1912, when Faramount and Mangek invaded Tilden to prevent the formation of a Tilden-Zalebano-Beren military alliance. The Alliance powers (Tilden, Zalebano, and Beren) and the Dual Kingdoms (Faramount and Mangek) spent the next six years locked in the Free Pacifican War. Most of the conflict centered around naval warfare, amphibious warfare, and espionage. The Mangeks ultimately lost the war, failing to address numerous socioeconomic issues that led to a revolution in 1918. The revolutionaries established a republic that immediately sought peace. Faramount fought on for several months until a joint surprise attack on Faramount City led the allies to capture the Faramanian capital. The King of Faramount abdicated, and the new government quickly made peace. Zalebano and Beren negotiated a relatively fair peace deal in order to avoid future war, despite the objections of Tilden, the only state to suffer serious harm in the conflict.
The five nations in 1920 recreated the Alliance of Free Pacific States in order to prevent future conflict. The multinational group initially featured only a council charged with encouraging peace, a court charged with resolving disputes amongst the parties, and a small administration based in Tilden to assuage Tilden's unhappiness with the peace treaty. But the Alliance quickly grew beyond the wildest expectations of its founders. An Alliance working group in 1923 resolved all remaining border issues amongst the parties, and in 1924, established a uniform rule for the use of natural sea resources. The Alliance adopted a free trade program in 1925 that prompted significant economic growth, and in 1929, united each country's postal services. The Alliance achieved another breakthrough in 1933, creating a joint defense force. The five Free pacific States planned a conference for 1936 for the creation of a joint currency.
Infinite Loop interrupted that conference when it invaded in 1936. Looplite forces devastated Free Pacifican defenses in days, captured the Alliance capitol within a week, and soon moved onto capture the capitols of Tilden, Zalebano, and Mangek. The five states panicked amidst the sudden, overwhelming military attack, and coordination fell by the wayside as each leading Free Pacifican official met his death or capture. Alliance Postmaster Michael Grisson took command of Alliance forces in 1937 and, by 1939, had convinced each state to commit all of its forces to his command. The reformed Alliance suffered repeated setbacks in 1940 and 1941 but, between 1942 and 1946, scored numerous victories against the Looplites. In 1946, Infinite Loop signed a peace treaty with the Alliance, formally ending the war.
The five national governments of the Free Pacific States barely existed after ten years of war. Grissom proposed a federalization of the Alliance, so as to facilitate reconstruction, and the vast majority of Free Pacificans voted in favor of a 1948 constitutional proposal. The remnants of the five states ratified that proposal in 1949 and, in 1950, Grissom won election as President of the Federated Alliance of Free Pacific States. Strong supporters of the federal government formed the Unification Party in 1949 and, in 1950, took complete control of the government. Grissom heavily centralized the nation during his term thanks to Unifier support but, by 1954, the coalition collapsed. Grissom decided not to seek a second term, and the Unification Party fell apart as members fought over the specific organization of the country.
The Socialist Party swept the 1954 elections with promises to rebuild the country. The Socialists invested heavily in reconstruction during the 1950s, and significantly raised standards of living by forcing the economy to grow. The Socialists achieved significant popularity during the 1950s, thanks to the reconstruction effort, but lost population in the 1960s due to corruption, waste, and economic stagnation.
A number of opposition parties formed the Reform Coalition to combat the Socialists and, by 1968, effectively controlled the government. The Reformists privatized the government-dominated economy, eliminated most welfare programs, and severely shrunk the central administration. The Reformists' reforms sparked severe economic growth, but also created immense income inequality. The Reformist Coalition slowly lost popularity as a result, and completely collapsed in the late 1970s. A host of small parties rose up to replace the Socialists and Reformists, leading to constant political turmoil in the early 1980s.
Voters soon became disenchanted with the constant partisan gimmicks and, in 1992, billionaire Jackie Suze successfully won the Presidency. Suze and her Centrist Party pursued centre-left policies during the 1990s, which proved both successful and popular. The Centrists completely dominated the government after 1992 and, in 2000, Suze's preferred successor, Matthew Terrus, won the Presidency. Terrus continued Suze's domestic reforms but became famous in his own right by ending the nation's long-standing isolationist foreign policy. Terrus won re-election in 2004, and focused his attention on international affairs. In 2007, Terrus signed a trade deal with the Pax Empire, which prompted an economic boom.
The Pax-Free Pacifican relationship proved highly conflicted, however, and numerous conflicts broke out between the powers even as they became more economically intertwined. Pax Drone residents revolted against the Free Pacifican government in the 2006 Drone Insurrection, wreaking havoc across the nation, and nearly causing a full-scale war. Terrus successfully avoided further conflict through negotiation but, by the time the revolution was quelled, immense damage had been done. The Centrist Party's popularity plummeted as voters lost faith in Terrus' ability to keep the peace. Even as his popularity diminished domestically, respect for Terrus grew in the international community.
The new, right-wing Nationalist Party soon rose from the dust to challenge the centrists, led by future President Christopher Arctoris. Arctoris led the Nationalists to seize control of the federal government in a landslide in 2008. The Centrist Party became the opposition party that year, though by 2011, the Centrists had fallen into third place behind the left-wing Liberty Party. President Arctoris won re-election in 2012, and the Nationalists continue to control the executive and legislative branches.
Arctoris took the nation in an entirely new direction in office. The conservative leader reduced Free Pacifican involvement in international affairs, invested heavily in defense, and imposed tariffs on Pax goods. The Nationalist chief required the tracking of all Pax immigrants (except on the Pax reservation created in 2006), attempted to recreate a long-defunct anti-Pax alliance, and significantly expanded federal national security authority. Arctoris most importantly tripled defense spending, and reorganized the army forces to focus almost exclusively on defending against a Pax invasion.
Geography, climate, and environment
Demographics
Government and politics
The Federated Alliance is a federation, constitutional republic, and representative democracy. Governance is regulated by a system of checks and balances enshrined in the Constitution of the Federated Alliance, the supreme legal document of the nation. Citizens are usually subject to three levels of government: federal, state, and local. A three-branch government usually exists at each level, though local administration is commonly split between counties and municipalities. The state governments possess general police powers, while the federal government and local governments exercise limited authority. Executive officials are usually elected by plurality vote. Legislative officials are varyingly elected through party-list proportional representation, single transferable vote systems, or plurality vote systems for single-member districts. Judicial officials are usually appointed by the executive, often with the required consent of the legislature.
The federal government is composed of three branches:
- Legislative: The bicameral Conclave, comprised of the Alliance Council and Representative Assembly, makes federal law, declares war, approves treaties, possesses the power of the purse, and has the power of impeachment, by which it can remove sitting members of the government.
- Executive: The President is the commander-in-chief of the military, possesses the power to veto legislative bills before they become law (subject to Conclave override), and appoints the members of the Cabinet (subject to Council approval) and other officers, who administer and enforce federal laws and policies.
- Judicial: The Constitutional Court and lower federal courts, whose judges are appointed by the President with Council approval, interpret laws and overturn those they find unconstitutional.
The Representative Assembly is comprised of 643 representatives, who serve two year terms. Most representatives are elected by plurality vote from single-member districts containing approximately 500,000 persons, but some representatives are elected from multi-member districts using single transferable vote proportional representation. A nonpartisan commission sets the number of districts in each state, determines the nature of the district, and draws the borders of the district. The commission acts when the Conclave proscribes by law a total number of representatives following each decennial census.
The Alliance Council is comprised of 150 councillors, 30 per state, elected at-large through party list proportional elections for six year terms. Ten Council seats are up for election every other year. A party must win more than 2.5 percent of the vote in a state to win a council seat representing that state. The President is elected by plurality vote nationally, and serves a four-year term. A Vice President is elected alongside the President. The Constitutional Court, led by the Chief Arbiter, has nine members, who serve for life.
The five state governments all possess a structure similar to the federal government, though Tilden uniquely has a unicameral legislature. A governor is the chief executive of each state. Some cabinet members in some states are elected, and some judges in some states are elected. Most local governments also possess a structure similar to the federal government, though some local governments use a hybrid executive/legislative branch. Some local governments alternatively have an executive appointed by the legislature.
Political divisions
The Federated Alliance is a federal republic of 5 states, a federal district, and a number of federal territories. The states are the principal administrative districts of the country, and are subdivided into counties and municipalities. The federal district is the capital of the Federated Alliance. Most of the federal territories are directly administered by the federal government, though a single territory is self-governed. All citizens aged 18+ are eligible to participate in the presidential election, which is decided by the total national popular vote. The states, federal district, and federal territories are represented in the Representative Assembly, but only the states are represented in the Alliance Council.
The five states of the Federated Alliance are Beren, Faramount, Mangek, Tilden, and Zalebano. Each state has its own constitution, and is largely autonomous with regards to its internal organization. The federal district is Liberty City. The federal government has granted Liberty City self-rule, and the city government exercises substantial autonomy from the federal government. The federal territories are mostly sparsely inhabited islands, but also include Cuttersville, the drone enclave established in 2006. The federal government governs each territory directly except for Cuttersville, which operates an autonomous territorial authority similar in design and power to the state governments.
Parties and elections
The Federated Alliance holds elections every year with campaigning usually lasting six to eight months. The federal government holds primary elections in mid-August and general elections in mid-November of every even-numbered year. State and local governments hold primary and general elections along the same schedule, except in odd-numbered years. Referendums will often be held in both even and odd numbered years as will special elections to fill electoral vacancies. Elections are generally considered free and fair. Universal suffrage exists for all citizens aged 18+, and citizens aged 16+ can vote in Tilden elections.
The Federated Alliance operates under a multi-party system. Five parties have dominated politics since 2006: the Centrist Party (founded 1991), the Nationalist Party (founded 2006), the Reform Party (founded 2006), and the Progressive Party (founded 2007 as the Liberty Party). Independent candidates often achieve success in local elections, and occasionally achieve success in state legislative and federal representative assembly elections. Several small parties exist, but usually only achieve success in local and state elections.
Each party possesses an ideological standpoint within the context of Free Pacifican political culture. The Centrist Party supports Western centre-left domestic policies, and a multilateralist foreign policy. The Nationalist Party favors right-wing domestic policies, and a limited, realpolitik foreign policy. The Reform Party advocates libertarianism and isolationism. The Progressive Party favors left-wing domestic policies, and a multilateralist foreign policy. Most independents in government caucus with the Centrist Party.
The Nationalist Party is presently the dominant political party. President Christopher Arctoris is a Nationalist, who won election in 2008 and 2012. The Alliance Council currently consists of 78 Nationalists, 59 Progressives, 9 Centrists, and 4 Reformists. The Representative Assembly currently consists of 347 Nationalists, 204 Progressives, 71 Centrists, 17 Reformists, and 4 independents. Among the five states, two have unified Nationalist governments, one has a unified Progressive government, and two have mixed governments. The Centrists dominate the politics of the federal capital, where a Centrist is Mayor.
Government and finance
Taxes are levied at the federal, state, and local levels in the Federated Alliance. The federal government largely collects income through the progressive federal income tax, though the federal government also imposes import, estate, and gift taxes. Capital gains are treated as regular income, but there is no tax on corporate income. State governments often use a mixture of income and sales taxes. Local governments usually rely upon property taxes. Taxes collected by federal, state, and municipal governments amounted to approximately 39% of GDP in 2015, though the federal government enacted major tax cuts in late 2015 expected to significantly impact 2016 revenue.
Governments at every level in the Federated Alliance make expenditures, usually independently of each other, though sometimes jointly. The federal government spent $7.2 trillion in 2015, and budgeted $7.4 trillion in 2016. Major categories of spending in the 2016 budget included defense ($1.3 trillion or 17.7%), welfare ($1.3 trillion or 17.6%), healthcare ($1.1 trillion or 15%), education and science ($1.1 trillion or 14.4%), retirement aid ($992.3 billion or 13.5%), infrastructure ($584.3 billion or 7.9%), and debt interest ($442.8 billion or 6%). State and local funding varies wildly depending upon state and local politics. Government spending in the Federated Alliance amounted to approximately 40% of GDP in 2015, though federal and state spending cuts are expected to reduce this percentage in 2016.
The federal government, states, and local authorities all regularly run deficits, issuing bonds to cover debts. The federal government achieved a surplus in 2015 for the first time in three decades, and projects a smaller but still substantial surplus in 2016. The federal government has a public debt of $10.9 trillion, equating to approximately 50.7% of 2015 GDP. Most states and localities run 2%-3% deficits with public debts ranging from 25%-75% of local GDP, but Faramount and Beren have run balanced budgets since 2010. Interest rates for Free Pacifican bonds are relatively low, thanks to high confidence in the Federate dollar.
Foreign affairs
The Federated Alliance is a major Urth power with substantial international influence. The Federated Alliance is the host of the East Pacific Treaty Organization, hosted the 2015 Convention on Diplomacy, and hosts embassies from most Urth nations. The Federated Alliance maintains close relations with Lyon, East Malaysia, Reziel, and Infinite Loop, Kelssek, and Dannistaan. Several nations host Free Pacifican military bases, and most nations host a Free Pacifican embassy. The Federated Alliance appropriated $12.7 billion for foreign aid for 2015, plus $44.9 billion in assistance for Lyon.
Military
The President of the Federated Alliance is the commander-in-chief of the nation's armed forces. The president appoints the leaders of the Free Pacifican military, the civilian Adjutant of the Federated Alliance and the military Commandant of the Federated Alliance, with the advise and consent of the Alliance Counsel. The Federated Alliance Department of Defense administers the armed forces, which are divided into four services: the Army, Navy, Air Force, and Space Force. The Department of Defense also supervises the National Maritime Enforcement and Rescue Agency during wartime. In 2015, the Department of Defense supervised approximately 1 million active duty personnel, 410.7 thousand reserve personnel, 446.2 thousand national guard personnel, and 590.8 thousand civilian personnel.
Military service is voluntary, though conscription may occur in wartime. The vast majority of Free Pacifican military forces are committed to defensive operations, though the Navy maintains a sizable expeditionary force capable of deploying troops rapidly overseas. The Federated Alliance maintains sizable military installations in Lyon, Reziel, and East Malaysia. The Free Pacifican air defense and sea defense systems both also protect Lyon. The Federated Alliance commits over 5% of its GDP to the military every year, appropriating $1.3 trillion for defense for 2015. The Federated Alliance historically spent significantly less, and most of the spending today is focused on the emerging Space Force.
The Federated Alliance maintains a sizable arsenal of thermonuclear weapons. The Navy manages approximately 300 strategic nuclear weapons, which it deploys in submarine-launched ballistic missiles aboard five ballistic missile nuclear submarines. The Space Force manages approximately 20 tactical, which are designed for space combat. The Federated Alliance does not have any other weapons of mass destruction.
Law enforcement and crime
Local police and sheriff's departments are primarily responsible for law enforcement in the Federated Alliance. State police forces provide broader services, often serving in a support role for primary law enforcement agencies. Federal agencies such as the Federal Law Enforcement Agency (FLEA), National Protection Agency (NPA), and Federal Marshals Agency (FMA) have specialized duties including protecting civil rights, national security, and enforcing federal court rulings and federal laws. A common law legal system operates at the federal level and in each state. State courts hear most criminal cases while federal courts hear federal law violations, national security cases, and certain appeals from state courses. plea bargaining is prohibited both at the federal and the state level, though accused criminals often plead guilty in return for a judge's promise of a specific lenient sentence.
The Federated Alliance has a relatively high crime rate for a developed nation, though the rate has substantially fallen over the last ten years. There were 7 murders per 100,000 persons in the Federated Alliance in 2012 including 5.3 gun homicides per 100,000 persons. There were 4,869 violent and property crimes per 100,000 residents in 2012. There is a high degree of gun ownership amongst the population despite considerable regulations upon firearms. Gun laws remain the subject of contentious political debate. Crime rates are relatively uniform across the Federated Alliance. Crime rates are particularly high in the old towns that exist in most major cities; the NLEA estimates that approximately 15% of all crimes and 20% of all homicides occur in old towns.
Capital punishment is exceedingly rare in the Federated Alliance. The federal governments and the states regularly imposed the death penalty until 1964, when the Federated Alliance adopted a constitutional amendment severely limiting the death penalty. Federal courts alone have the power to impose the death penalty today, and can only impose the death penalty for treason, espionage, piracy, and war crimes. The death penalty cannot be imposed upon persons under 18, mentally handicapped persons, and persons that plead guilty when charged. Since 1964, the federal government has only executed 3 persons, a group of terrorists put to death in 2009. Prior to 1964, the federal government and state governments executed 2614 persons, almost exclusively adult men convicted of murder. The Federated Alliance specifically requires its extradition treaties with other nations to include a provision mandating that extradition partners not execute persons extradited by the Federated Alliance.
The Federated Alliance has a sizable prison population, which is increasing in size due to anti-crime initiatives enacted in recent years. There were approximately 575,000 incarcerated persons in the Free Pacific States in 2012, the equivalent of approximately 1 person for every 400 adults. Approximately 1 in 140 adult residents in the Federated Alliance were under some form of correctional supervision at yearend 2012. The imprisonment rate for all prisoners sentenced to more than a year in state or federal facilities is 119 per 100,000 in 2012, and the rate for pre-trial/remand prisoners is 38 per 100,000 residents in 2012. Prisons are operated exclusively by the state except in Beren, where the use of privatized prisons for approximately 80% of state prison inmates is highly controversial.
Economy
| Economic indicators | ||
|---|---|---|
| Nominal GDP | $17.914 trillion (Q2 2015) | |
| Real GDP growth | 2.7% (Q2 2015, annualized) | |
| 2.4% (2014) | ||
| CPI inflation | 3% (August 2015) | |
| Employment-to-population ratio | 66.1% (August 2015) | |
| Unemployment | 2.6% (August 2015) | |
| Labor force participation rate | 62% (August 2015) | |
| Total public debt | $10.97 trillion (Q3 2015) | |
| Household net worth | $111.4 trillion (Q2 2015) | |
The Federated Alliance has a capitalist mixed economy, which is field by trade with the Pax and by high productivity. The FPS nominal GDP is estimated to be $21.8 trillion in 2015, approximately $66,600 per capita. The Federated Alliance has enjoyed an economic boom over the last seven years with real GDP growth averaging 7%, compared to an average of 3.3% real compounded GDP growth from 1987 to 2006. The FPS dollar is a major reserve currency. Federal debt approximates 47% of GDP with most bonds held by Free Pacifican entities.
The Federated Alliance is amongst the largest importers and exporters of goods, thanks mostly to the Free Pacifican relationship with Pax Draconica. The Pax engage in free trade solely with the Federated Alliance and with Lyon, allowing those nations access to unlimited cheap natural resources, a massive market for consumer goods, and a massive market for agricultural goods. The Federated Alliance also engages in trade with 1 Infinite Loop, a massive, post-industrial nation with a strong demand for consumer goods. In 2015, FPS trade amounted to $10.4 trillion, approximately 45% of the FPS economy. FPS maintains a relative balance of exports and imports with a trade surplus of approximately $43 billion.
The Free Pacifican private sector comprises approximately 71% of the economy with federal government activity accounting for 24% and state and local government activity accounting for 5%. The number of employees at all levels of government outnumber those in manufacturing by 1.9 to 1. While its economy has reached a postindustrial level of development and its service sector constitutes 64.8% of GDP, the Federated Alliance remains an industrial power. The leading business field by gross business receipts, and by net income, is manufacturing. Resource refining, wholesale and retail trade, information technology are also major business sectors. Agriculture accounts for just 2% of GDP, but the agricultural industry is enjoying significant growth thanks to Pax demands.
Consumer spending comprised 68% of the FPS economy in 2015. The Free Pacifican labor force in 2015 comprised of 215.1 million people. Government is the leading field of employment. The largest private employment sector is information technology. Approximately 32% of workers are unionized. Employment is at-will throughout the Federated Alliance, though it is prohibited to make employment decisions based off certain factors. The Federated Alliance has a sizable welfare state, though welfare programs have been substantially reduced in size since 2009. Workers receive paid vacation, paid family leave, and sick leave as a legal right.
The Federated Alliance is highly reliant upon Trade with Pax Draconica. The Pax only trade with the Federated Alliance and with Lyon, granting a massive economic benefit to these nations. Most experts estimate that approximately 20%-30% of the Free Pacifican economy exists solely due to Pax trade.
Education
The Federated Alliance Department of Education operates the national education system, a unified, centralized public school system that provides preschool, primary education, and secondary education. Children are required to attend school from age 3 to age 18, except if homeschooled. Vouchers are provided for some of the approximately 9% of children that attend parochial or nonsectarian private schools, and a tax refund is provided for the approximately 1% of children that are homeschooled. The federal government spends approximately $12,848.9 per student, more than the vast majority of nations of Urth.
The Federated Alliance has many competitive private and public institutions of higher education. A number of top Urth universities are located in the Federated Alliance including a campus of the revered Shiro Academy. There are also local [wikipedia:community_college|community colleges]] with generally more open admission policies, shorter academic programs, and lower tuition. Vocational schools are also common. State and local governments fund public institutions, most community college, and some vocational schools with only limited support from the federal government. Tuition at universities is often expensive, though the federal government and state governments operate grant and loan programs to assist students. Students are also able to secure student loans from private creditors.
The Federated Alliance has a highly educated populace thanks to its educational system. Approximately 93% of Free Pacificans have graduated secondary school, approximately 56.2% attended some college, 29.6% earned a bachelor's degree, and 9.8% earned a graduate degree. The basic literacy rate is approximately 99%.
Culture
Infrastructure
Transportation
The Federated Alliance maintains an interlinked national mass transit system featuring high-speed and conventional inter-city railways, train and regular ferries, rapid transit systems, light rail systems, trams, and intercity and transit bus services. State-level and local-level government corporations operate most of these systems, though with financial support from the federal government. Mass transit accounts for approximately 22% of national work trips, and for approximately 40% of urban work trips. Approximately 45% of Free Pacificans normally commute through some combination of walking, biking, and mass transit. Most Free Pacificans live within a kilometer of a mass transit stop. The mass transit system links up with the nation's system of passenger airports, which are mostly publicly owned. The civil airline industry is privately owned, notably featuring three major airlines, Free Pacifican Airlines, Federated Alliance Airlines, and Pan-Yasterian Airways, along with some smaller carriers. Air travel is more expensive than other mass transit, and is most commonly used for interstate and international travel, offering a much faster alternative to FPS' ferry system.
Personal automobiles are nonetheless the predominant form of transportation in the Federated Alliance. Approximately 55% of Free Pacificans commute in a personal vehicle. FPS maintains a dense system of roadways, and an extensive interstate freeway system. The overwhelming majority of vehicles are powered by a traditional internal combustion engine, but electric vehicles, hybrid vehicles, and other alternative fuel vehicles are surging in popularity. Most government vehicles, and nearly all mass transit vehicles, are either electric or hybrid, along with approximately 26% of personal vehicles. Less than a percent of vehicles are propelled by alternative fuel engines, and close to seventy percent of personal automobiles are propelled by gasoline internal combustion engines. Diesel combustion engines comprise the remainder of the market, mostly trucks. Approximately 28% of Free Pacifican personal vehicles are gas-powered vans, SUVs, or light trucks, down from a high of 45% in the early 1990s. Automobiles are subject to strict greenhouse gas emissions standards.
Transport of cargo is dominated by private rail companies, private trucking companies, and private shipping companies. The Federated Alliance features some of the world's largest and busiest ports, most notably Garneldo, which is amongst the largest container ports on Urth. The government owns most ports, though individual docks are often leased to private companies.
Energy
The Federated Alliance is amongst the world's largest consumers of energy, using approximately 31,000 terawatt hours per year. The government closely monitors the energy industry, and state-level government corporations oversee most electricity generation and distribution, though with financial support from the federal government. Most electricity in FPS is generated by nuclear power plants, which account for approximately 75% of energy production. Hydroelectric dams account for another approximately 16% of energy production, and fossil fuel-based power plants account for most of the remainder. Renewable energy accounts for only .1% of energy production in the Federated Alliance because there is little environmental push for renewable energy given the large amount of energy derived from nuclear and hydroelectric power. The Federated Alliance plans to phase out fossil fuel as an energy source by 2030, largely through the construction of more nuclear power plants.
The Free Pacifican government is highly committed to energy conservation, green technologies, emission reduction activities, water resource management, and environmental protection. The federal government spent $62.5 billion on environmental programs in FY2015, state governments spent another 3.1 billion, and local governments spent another .2 billion. The Federated Alliance formally recognizes that climate change is occurring as a result of human activities. President Matthew Terrus signed legislation in 2007 committing the Federated Alliance to derive sixty percent of its energy from renewable energy and nuclear power by 2030. The nation is easily expected to meet this goal. The Federated Alliance engages in substantial nuclear reprocessing of nuclear waste, but produces far more nuclear waste than is reprocessed. The federal government operates several short-term nuclear waste depositories, and plans to construct a deep geological depository for permanent storage of nuclear fuel, but has yet to select a site for such a depository.
The Federated Alliance briefly accepted fusion-generated power from Pax-Draconica, but ceased to do so in 2009 after the Pax suddenly cutoff power for an extended period amidst heightened tensions. The Free Pacifican government is investing heavily into research into fusion power.
Water supply and sanitation
State-level government corporations provide water and sewer services for most Free Pacificans. Just eleven percent of Free Pacificans receive water from private utilities. Approximately 10% of Free Pacificans are served by their own wells, and use their own sewage systems. Nearly the entire Free Pacifican population has access to safe, clean water. Water consumption is high in the Federated Alliance, despite water management efforts. The federal government has invested substantially in water conservation and water reclamation efforts in a bid to reduce the costs associated with this high level of water consumption. Most public water originates in FPS' numerous mountain ranges.
