Sentence:  Remember, this study was conducted in Massachusetts, in the politically liberal climate of the “<WSD>People's Republic</WSD> of Cambridge,” where parents strive almost as hard to create racially nonbiased behavior in their children as they do to get them into the proper school. 
Meaning of the word marked with <WSD> tags:  A particular area with strong left-leaning tendencies, especially one with a certain level of autonomy.