Does the Federation still exist in the 31+th century?

This.

 

^ I adhere to the idea that the spheres are the same in 12th - 26th century, the only difference is that by the 26th century there is more of them and therefore Procyon V would be now part of the Delphic Expanse.

So if the spheres are destroyed in the 22nd century, they do not have to be destroyed in the 26th.
But this doesn't change the fact that we have not heard the last of the Sphere Builders. They are still safe in their own realm. They do posses time travel technology (a part of the Xindi prototype came from the future, there was the short visit to the 21st century, and they shared the technology with the Borg in the !24th century).

If they breeched the universe once, can they not do it again? Who is to say that they did not move shop and are operating somewhere else?

However there are limitation to this technology - why didn't they attack sooner?
Could they predict the future only for something over 400 years? The only advanced race they could use in the Delphic Expanse were the Xindi, an earlier attempt the Triannon destroyed themselves?

 

There's nothing to say the Expanse of the 26th century is the same as the one in the 22nd.

 

My point exactly. As I remember, Sphere builders also had ships in the future. Is quite possible those ships were carrying their own anomaly emitters. I like to believe in the causality effect, even if it's customary for Trek cannon not to.

 

Personally, I think that the 700 odd years between the 24th century and the 31st century is such a long time, that the changes of the Federation being around the way it is in the 24th century is unlikely. Governments adapt and change according the period in which they exists. Especially governments that are alliances like the Federation, where races can become members, but also leave. The political landscape will probably change so much in the coming years, that the way the Federation works could be very different. Perhaps instead of being this tight government it is right now, respect between the various species of the Federation and its allies will have evolved to such a point, that an actual goverment isn't even necessary anymore. And only a loose alliance of mutual understanding and respect, without a written law will exist.

 

Nations and Empires rise and fall. How long can the Federation exist is nothing more than a guess. The Battle of Procyon V may have been the Federation's last big engagement. It could have led to other world leaving or declaring their independence from the Federation or created a civil war. Disease may have spread across the Federation either as a biological attack or natural occurrence. The Battle of Procyon V may have been the last in a long war that left the Federation vulnerable to the Borg or another race.

There is not enough information to say that the Federation as it is in the 23/24 centuries is the same as the one in the 31st or beyond. It could still be around, but in what form is anyone's guess.

 

The United Federation of Planets could also evolve into something else over time, perhaps a larger interstellar coalition with another name or a slightly different one (I remember the old FASA TNG Officer's Manual suggesting the Federation Grand Alliance, with multiple territorial zones extending into different quadrants of the Galaxy).

 

There's always the possibility the Federation has turned evil by then, as in the excellent novel Crossroad.

 

If the Federation is a democracy, as we all assume, then Starfleet and it's exploration programs are bound to wind up the subject of popular vote sooner or later. Not hard to imagine the average voter blaming Starfleet for exposing them to the Borg, Dominion and whatever else. The Federation could very well swing toward a more isolationist mindset. Hence, the absence from the delta quadrant in the 31st+ centuries.

 

The problem with this scenario is that it relies on the assumption that the Federation electorate is stupid and irrational.

 

Every eloctorate ever has been so...

 

I know it's not canon, but I think one of the ST: DTI novels mentioned or at least alluded to Daniels being a DTI agent. I'm not positive, I'd have to go look.

 

He gets called a temporal agent in the series so it makes sense.

 

Watching the Clock. Although it's a group descended from the DTI, not the DTI itself. I can't remember if we were ever told their 31st century name, but by the 29th century, policing of the timeline is done by a Starfleet subsiduary called the Temporal Integrity Commission. Daniels wasn't a part of Starfleet, so things have changed again in the intervening 200 years (thats even IF the 29th and 31st century time cops represent the same version of the future. A line in Watching the Clock suggested that they weren't entirely sure themselves.

 

The fundamental premise of Star Trek is that society has changed, that people have rejected irrationality and ignorance.

 

Wasn't it suggested the 31st century temporal agents were a civilian group, which Ducane disapproved of.

 

I know... but if you look at how Trek on TV was handled... the writers simply re-created early 21st century in the late 24th.
They were steering clear of such idiocy while Roddenberry was still alive, but after he was gone, it was downhill from there.
In voyager's episode 'Pathfinder' they had secretaries and numerous other stupidities that are directly related to our century and the socio-economic system WE live in (while the Trek one as Roddenberry pushed was given minor nods and eventually pushed to the side).

 

We'll we have the Federation Timeship Relativity active in the 29th Century.

 

I take it you're referring to Nicole, Admiral Paris's assistant (or secretary), you honestly think a Starfleet Admiral isn't going to have a staff? Nicole likely managed the Admiral appointments and kept him on schedule.

Roddenberry was the one who gave both Captain Pike and Kirk a yeoman, a yeoman is basically a secretary.

But you were saying.