Evolution

Much of it is already there - free OSes, Wikis, Blogs, social networks, trust networks (Debian's key ring) and so on - and more will likely come. On top of these technologies, on certain web sites that provide technological platforms for coordinating the revolution, political groups are forming. Many of these groups pursue pre-information-age ideologies. Most of these ideologies have not been tested on a large scale at all and almost none have been tested in a networked society.

I believe a networked society has a property the changes the game board fundamentally: you don't need a territory anymore to build a polis. All the pre-information-age ideologies should be adapted to this change of the rules (this includes contemporary western democracies!). Information age ideologies should be developed and thrown in for good measure (as I have tried to do above). Everybody should hopefully agree on some kind of meta-constitution and be it only ``Everybody can choose his polis as he likes and may not be physically forced in his choices''. Or something along those lines. Translating that to English would be a good start.

Western societies can hardly take the route of historical revolutions because such revolutions would shatter the global economical system which might take considerable time to reestablish in whatever form. Shattering the global economical system would lead to millions or even billions of deaths. Therefor the only possible route is gradual change. If diversity can be fostered on the way - as outlined above - that would even increase the stability of the global economy in the long run. This by itself would be worth pursuing: The global economical monoculture is susceptible to global crashes as has been nicely demonstrated recently. And a global economical crash comparable to the great depression could blow away western democracies and put everybody's life at a significant risk.

Thus we just start. We aggregate communities who accept their polis' rule on top of their nation state's rules. When the people from a polis are confident that their law system, economy, and social network can stand on its own, rules from the nation state can be gradually removed. In order for this to happen a very significant followership has to be established. Otherwise nation states will never part with their power. Recruiting a significant followership will only be possible by offering diversity. People have to be really convinced by a polis to try it out. Since tastes and convictions vary greatly only diversity can offer something to appeal to everybody.

In the (very) long run geographically and ethnically grounded nation states may just disappear.