Polity Atlas
05 · Future Observatory

Watching society transform

Research, technology shifts, AI governance, post-labour economics and digital statehood — each item tagged with its status and the claims it changes.

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Signals

Verified by editors
2026-10-23SignalSignal: France's CESE convenes a citizens' convention on public finances on its own initiativeIn October 2026 France's Economic, Social and Environmental Council began recruiting 150 randomly selected citizens for a convention on public finances, due to start on 27 November 2026. It is the first convention the CESE has launched on its own initiative rather than at the executive's request.Hypothesis2026-07-28SignalSignal: Irish assembly recommendations are followed up unevenlyIreland's biodiversity assembly reports high uptake by the government's own count, while the Dublin assembly's mayor proposal was still 'under consideration' in July 2026, more than three years after its report.Hypothesis2026-07-27SignalSignal: a network-state project signs a memorandum with a national governmentOn 27 July 2026 Kazakhstan's Ministry of Artificial Intelligence and Digital Development signed a memorandum with Balaji Srinivasan's Network School, which has since launched in Astana. It is cooperation with a host state, not recognition, and the government says no state money is involved.Hypothesis2026-06-18SignalSignal: citizens' assemblies becoming a routine instrumentIreland has convened several citizens' assemblies since 2016; random-selection bodies are increasingly part of the ordinary toolkit rather than one-off experiments.Theory2026-05-20SignalSignal: temporary 'pop-up cities' as a testbed for network communitiesAfter Zuzalu in 2023, several groups have organised temporary residential gatherings to trial community-first governance without claiming sovereignty.Hypothesis