Sonia A. Hirt argues that zoning laws are among the important but understudied reasons for the cross-continental differences between Europe and the United States.

In the North American Confederacy . . . People are free--really free. Free to do as they please, whether it be starting a business, running for elected office, or taking target practice in the back forty. There's not a whole lot of government, nor is there a lot of crime, because everyone who wants to carries a gun, and isn't afraid to use it. But someone has bombed the Endicott Building, killing hundreds of people, and Win Bear, the only licensed detective in the confederacy, has to find out who did this dastardly deed, and why. Because whoever did it has already shown their willingness to commit more terrorist acts, no matter how many people are hurt. And that can't go on, or soon the confederacy will be just as the bad old United States--and that is something they want to avoid at all costs.