Papers

The Convergent Society project develops formal papers alongside the book, essays, and framework materials. These papers provide a more structured and research-oriented treatment of the ideas behind structural divergence, institutional alignment, civic capacity, and human flourishing.

They are intended to support the gradual development of the framework as an intellectual, civic, and applied project.

Structural Divergence and the Crisis of Institutional Alignment in Advanced Democracies

Rolando Azpurua

This paper develops the concept of structural divergence: the growing separation between the capabilities of modern systems and the broader human purposes they are meant to serve.

It argues that many advanced democracies are not merely experiencing isolated crises of inequality, distrust, polarization, loneliness, or institutional failure. Rather, these patterns increasingly appear together as symptoms of a deeper condition: the weakening alignment between economic systems, political institutions, technological development, civic life, and human flourishing.

The paper provides a theoretical foundation for the Convergent Society framework and introduces the need to move beyond critique toward institutional realignment, civic capacity, and organized societal renewal.