After the 2028 great Crash, the Californian economy, already weakkened by its huge debt, crashed, and the growing unrest was only exarcebated by the growing power of the megacorps ans their detachment from the populace. When in 2032 the Congress passed a law allowings megacorps to possess armed forces, the Californians judged it was enough and broke up from the Union in the same year with Proposal 93.
In the following decades, California remained an isle of democracy but was severely unstabilized by the few attempts of the federal governement to reoccuppy california and by the problems affecting the rest of the world because its economy based on exports and high tech found fewer and fewer markets in a collasping world.
The deathblow came with the Plague that devastated Los Angeles and coincided with the collapse of the region's water supplies that came from Canada. The result was the death of over 30 million Californians in the plague and famine that ensued and by that time everyone thought that even California would come to collapse and southern California was almost entirely abandoned, the governement only retaining control over the Bay Area and Central Valley
But in 2078 came a new hope. Akira Everard, a visionary governor, came into power. She assumed emergency powers, doing her best to save what could be. Under her supervision, the governement instaured a series of economic and political reforms such as limitations of megacorps' powers, the creation of a Army to defend the state and restore control of California, the nationalisation of most critical infrastructure (water, energy, communications, transports, research and heavy industry) and the dedication of about half of the population to farming the fertile lands of the Central valley. These reforms enabled the Republic of California to survive through that period of collapse, but not without bringing about total changes to Californian society. At the death of Akira Everard in 2123, total democracy was reestablished.
Through the 21rst century, California remained one of the most stable states in the world. It slowly expanded back into the wastelands of Southern California and of the Sierra Nevada and suceeded in maintaining a relatilvely high technological level due to the (relative) preservation of the Silicon Valley and maneged to build from scratch a self-suficient agriculture and economy. Today's California, under governor Ashley Shepard's benevolent rule, possesses one of the world's largest industries, technological level and air force due to the policy of reconstruction conducted by its leaders and vies to rebuild the West Coast -under its own terms-. However, it is widely feared nowadays that the country's wealth and stability might attract its envious neighbours.