Explorations of insights, questions, and experiments that inspire and spark our imagination when it comes to designing institutions for the 21st century.
Most debates about democracy get stuck between two positions: defend the institutions we have, or declare them broken. This paper takes a third route. It treats democracy as something that was designed, and so can be redesigned. Written by TIAL co-founder Sir Geoff Mulgan and Dr Alex Fischer of the Australian Resilient Democracy Network, and […]
Work in Progress: How to upgrade democracy in the age of AI Read more
Why academic disciplines analyse institutions brilliantly but rarely help design them — and what a more useful synthesis could look like.
TIAL’s working paper, after examining the governance structures of several real-life cases, explores a new logic for emergencies, the stack architecture. The stack is both diagnostic and descriptive and it helps the city leader know in real time where more effort should be placed in governing an emergency.
Stack thinking reframes how complex systems can be organised. Borrowed from computing, a stack is a layered architecture in which each layer performs a distinct function and interacts with others through defined interfaces.
Stack thinking: Options for reshaping the DNA of governments Read more
That is how governments avoid being trapped in the “eternal present”, even when the news cycle is determined to become the unofficial minister for everything.
How to imagine and build institutions for city governments across the world.
This paper proposes a new institutional architecture framework — the Interchange — to address complex, evolving governance challenges like climate change, artificial intelligence, and public health crises.
Instead of designing top-down systems, institutions should create conditions in which small groups can build minimal, working standards that others can adopt.
White paper #003: Emergent standards: Enabling collaborations across institutions Read more
This report outlines approaches for rethinking institutions for an era of demographic shifts in Finland. It is the result of a partnership with the Finnish Innovation Fund, Sitra.
Rethinking institutions in an era of demographic transition Read more
DOGE Done Better, a new paper written by TIAL’s Geoff Mulgan and published by Demos (UK), offers a model for redesigning government that balances efficiency with intelligence, legitimacy, and long-term purpose.
DOGE done better? The case for progressive efficiency and a streamlined state Read more
