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Governance is the process by which a [[DAO]] maintains its coherence in the present, guides the group into the future, and reviews its past actions. These three types of governance are respectively labeled executive, legislative, and judicial governance. Executive governance can be thought of as active policing of acceptable behavior. Legislative governance steers future behavior by planning future changes to executive governance protocols. Judicial governance reviews past behavior, potentially revaluating previous conclusions.  
Governance is the process by which a [[DAO]] maintains its coherence in the present, guides the group into the future, and reviews its past actions. These three types of governance are respectively labeled [[Governance#Executive governance|executive]], [[Governance#Legislative%20governance|legislative]], and [[Governance#Judicial governance|judicial]] governance. Executive governance can be thought of as active policing of acceptable behavior. Legislative governance steers future behavior by planning future changes to executive governance protocols. Judicial governance reviews past behavior, potentially revaluing previous conclusions.  


Each branch of DAO governance can be further broken down into hard and soft protocols. Hard protocols are automated by the backend distributed computing software everyone shares. Soft protocols include cultural norms that guide members' behavior and automated protocols in frontend software that users may or may not elect to use.
Each branch of DAO governance can be further broken down into hard and soft protocols. Hard protocols are automated by the backend distributed-computing software everyone shares. Soft protocols include cultural norms that guide members' behavior as well as automated protocols in frontend software that users may or may not elect to use.


In [[DAO Governance Framework|DGF]] all governance is determined through REP-weighted democracy. [[Reputation|REP]] denotes reputation tokens, which are gained by peer validation and are used to vote by staking on positive or negative assertions in the [[Validation Pool]].   
In [[DAO Governance Framework|DGF]] all governance is determined through REP-weighted democracy. REP denotes [[Reputation|reputation tokens]], which are gained by peer validation and are used to vote by staking on positive or negative assertions in the [[Validation Pool]].   


Executive governance consists of automated binding votes in Validation Pools. Legislative governance consists of a series of linked propositions in the [[Forum]] validated by votes in a series of Validation Pools which move from non-binding to binding. Judicial governance takes the form of [[Judicial governance#Arbitration|arbitration]] smart contracts or [[Judicial governance#Forum revaluation|Forum revaluation]].   
Executive governance consists of automated, binding votes in Validation Pools. Legislative governance consists of a series of linked propositions in the [[Forum]] validated by votes in a series of Validation Pools which move from non-binding to binding. Judicial governance takes the form of [[Judicial governance#Arbitration|arbitration]] or [[Judicial governance#Forum revaluation|Forum revaluation]].   


Following the requirement that REP be [[Reputation#Qualities of meaningful REP|domain specific]] in order to give the tokens the authentic quality of reputation, governance through REP tokens will usually require a distinct type of REP token, called gREP, as opposed to the main type of REP token the DAO uses to measure the reputation of expert workers, called REP.
Following the requirement that REP be [[Reputation#Qualities of meaningful REP|domain specific]] in order to give the tokens the authentic quality of reputation, governance through REP tokens will usually require a distinct type of REP token, called gREP, as opposed to the main type of REP token the DAO uses to measure the reputation of expert workers, called REP.
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''Main page: [[Executive governance]]''
''Main page: [[Executive governance]]''


Executive governance consists of automated policing of peer actions. The mechanism for executive governance is the [[Validation Pool]] using binding (tightly-coupled) votes on the acceptability of actions that affect the DAO.   
Executive governance consists of automated policing of peer actions. The primary mechanism for executive governance is the Work smart contract (WSC), which sets the protocols for successful participation in the profit-making aspect of the DAO. The secondary executive governance mechanism is the [[Validation Pool]], which is used to validate the completion of every WSC, using binding (tightly-coupled) votes on the acceptability of all actions that affect the DAO.   


Executive governance in a DAO is the active, direct control of ownership in the organization. Executive governance consists of policing who is inside or outside the group and how much power insiders have. Executive governance is therefore the accounting of the lists of owners of the various types of tokens that have power through the DAO’s smart contracts. Inasmuch as a DAO is truly decentralized, this control must be ultimately democratic. Therefore, some sort of token-weighted voting is necessary. Inasmuch as executive governance is the process of executing the regulations the organization has already agreed to follow, executive governance should be automated as much as possible. In a DAO this means algorithmic enforcement using smart contracts run on a decentralized computing platform.  
Executive governance in a DAO is the active, direct control of ownership in the organization. Executive governance consists of policing who is inside or outside the group and how much power insiders have. Executive governance is therefore the accounting of the lists of owners of the various types of tokens that have power through the DAO’s smart contracts. Inasmuch as a DAO is truly decentralized, this control must be ultimately democratic. Therefore, some sort of token-weighted voting is necessary. Inasmuch as executive governance is the process of executing the regulations the organization has already agreed to follow, executive governance should be automated as much as possible. In a DAO this means algorithmic enforcement using smart contracts run on a decentralized computing platform.  
Given automated executive governance, the [[Executive governance#Policing valuation|reward structure for policing]] can be rigorously valuated with [[Reputation tokenomics|REP tokenomics]].


== Legislative governance ==
== Legislative governance ==
''Main page: [[Legislative governance]]''
''Main page: [[Legislative governance]]''


Debating and voting on updates to DAO operating parameters and smart contracts ([[hard protocols]]), and cultural norms ([[soft protocols]]). The mechanism for legislative governance is the [[Validation Pool]] using a series of votes on proposals to adjust existing protocols. The proposals are recorded as posts in the Forum. The series of votes on a single proposal gradually change from optional, non-binding (loosely-coupled) polls of the REP holders to binding (tightly-coupled) votes that determine new law. A tightly-coupled vote means when you vote against the majority with your REP tokens, you lose them and they are redistributed to the winners through the Validation Pool mechanism. Loosely-coupled votes merely register voters' opinions without redistribution of REP. 
Legislative governance is devoted to changing the future of a DAO, debating and voting on updates to DAO operating parameters and smart contracts ([[Governance#Hard protocols|hard protocols]]), and cultural norms ([[Governance#Soft protocols|soft protocols]]).  


Legislative governance in a DAO is primarily concerned with updating the P2P software that automates executive governance. The primary legislative governance activity is adjusting the parameters of the algorithms in the smart contracts. Such governance will always be needed, to optimize any DAO’s interaction with the dynamic market in which it functions, because we are not capable of creating a perfect system that can anticipate the future. More rarely, but still inevitably, governance will take the form of more dramatic updates to the software, such as updating UIs, updating smart contracts, and most rarely, updating back-end logic that profoundly reorganizes the functioning of the DAO.
The mechanism for legislative governance is the [[Validation Pool]] using a series of votes on proposals to adjust existing protocols. The proposals are recorded as posts in the Forum. The series of votes on a single proposal gradually change progressively from optional, non-binding (loosely-coupled) polls of members to binding (tightly-coupled) votes that determine new law. A ''tightly-coupled'' vote means when you vote against the majority, you lose the REP tokens used, and they are redistributed to the winners through the Validation Pool mechanism. ''Loosely-coupled'' votes merely register voters' opinions without any redistribution of REP.  


Secondarily, legislative governance sets the culture for how members can thrive in the group. Legislation determines the rules as well as the rules for changing the rules. This secondary function of legislation is meant to correct the failures of the DAO, which are inevitable.
Legislative governance in a DAO is primarily concerned with updating the P2P software that automates executive governance. The primary legislative governance activity is adjusting the parameters of the algorithms in the smart contracts. Such governance will always be needed, to optimize any DAO’s interaction with the dynamic market in which it functions, because we are not capable of creating a perfect system that can anticipate the future perfectly. More rarely, but still inevitably, governance will take the form of more dramatic updates to the software, such as updating UIs, updating smart contracts, and most rarely, updating back-end logic that profoundly reorganizes the functioning of the DAO.
 
Secondarily, legislative governance sets the culture for how members can thrive in the group. Legislation determines the rules, as well as the rules for changing the rules. This secondary function of legislation is meant to correct any identified failures or weaknesses of the DAO, which are inevitable.


== Judicial governance ==
== Judicial governance ==
''Main page: [[Judicial governance]]''
''Main page: [[Judicial governance]]''


Judicial governance of a DAO is the review and revaluation of past actions and decisions. Practical judicial governance consists of two mechanisms: 1. triggering [[Judicial governance#Arbitration|arbitration]] in the course of a work smart contract, and 2. [[Judicial governance#Forum revaluation|revaluing the Forum]].
Judicial governance of a DAO is the review and revaluation of past actions and decisions. Practical judicial governance consists of two mechanisms: 1. triggering [[Judicial governance#Arbitration|arbitration]] in the course of a work smart contract, and 2. [[Judicial governance#Forum revaluation|revaluing the Forum]].    


Since the Forum is technically a WDAG (weighted directed acyclic graph), judicial governance is technically the process by which the WDAG is reweighted. This judicial governance mechanism is necessary for instituting an evolutionary structure which converges on ever greater security.
=== Arbitration ===
''Main page: [[Arbitration DAO]]''   


Judicial governance in a DAO is fundamentally a matter of approving token ownership in the DAO. The more visible, secondary function of judicial governance is the review of REP token accounts. Judicial governance allows a DAO to re-evaluate REP holdings by slashing accounts that were later determined to have harmed the DAO, or augmenting accounts that had a later positive affect.
Arbitration allows conscious intervention to adjust the standard automated outcome of a smart contract. In any DAO which employs a work smart contract (WSC), when one or more of the parties is dissatisfied with the execution of the contract, they may trigger an arbitration clause, which transfers the assets encumbered in the WSC to a judge. The judge then resolves the dispute according to the standards set by the DAO.    


Inasmuch as business and social decisions are inevitably flawed, this function is necessary for the long-term stability of a DAO. It is necessary for a mechanism of review to exist, but in a healthy DAO it will rarely be used, compared with the other branches of government. 
Arbitration is the more immediate type of judicial governance, usually only requiring an individual judge's decision.    
 
Reputation tokens should be slashed for two basic reasons: first, when members violate explicit protocols, even though the violation was not detected by automated executive policing; second, when members betray the more abstract values the DAO shares which have not been explicitly encoded in automated protocols. Judicial governance also allows more accurate accounting of power after a DAO updates its values or protocols. Judicial governance is therefore fundamental in incentivizing members to behave well, because if it is functioning, judicial governance imbues REP tokens with some of the crucial qualities that characterize authentic reputation: future-orientation and non-fungibility.
 
=== Forum references allow review ===
The Forum is a collection of posts (comments, proposals, work evidence, etc.), each one potentially having a set of references to older posts. As such the Forum is a DAG (directed acyclic graph), since the posts are nodes in the graph, and references are directed edges between posts. The Forum graph is acyclic, since older posts cannot reference newer posts. The Forum is weighted by the REP that each post earns during the [[Reputation#REP Token Minting Mechanism|REP Token Minting Mechanism]] stage and the strength of each edge reference. The Forum is reweighted every time a new post is added, allowing a decentralized means of review.  


====Forum reference mechanisms====
====Forum reference mechanisms====
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The Forum reference mechanisms allows DAO members to re-weight the Forum. This means new posts can give or take REP from older posts through a weighted reference. This allows DAO members to review previous actions that had previously been given a particular quantity of REP tokens, and either slash or augment the posts' holdings depending on whether they are later deemed less or more beneficial to the DAO than had originally been decided.
The Forum reference mechanisms allows DAO members to re-weight the Forum. This means new posts can give or take REP from older posts through a weighted reference. This allows DAO members to review previous actions that had previously been given a particular quantity of REP tokens, and either slash or augment the posts' holdings depending on whether they are later deemed less or more beneficial to the DAO than had originally been decided.


With two basic reference functions, DAOs have complete control over the process of reweighting the Forum WDAG.
Forum revaluation is more deliberate and takes more time than arbitration with a judge – it requires the weighted-democratic consensus of the larger DAO. Forum revaluation changes the REP token holdings of posts in the [[Forum]] through leaching and donating references from new validated posts.   
 
==== Reweighting primitives ====
The Forum can be completely reweighted through a process of adding references. Reweighting the WDAG means that any given WDAG can be changed to any other choice of weights by leaching REP from some posts and donating REP to others. This is the REP review process.
 
===== Donation primitive =====
?? Add explanation, figures & code link
 
===== Leaching primitive =====
?? Add explanation, figures & code link
 
===== Incinerator primitive =====
?? Add explanation, figures & code link
 
??
 
Motivation for the existence of the incinerator:
 
If every WSC post is required to donate through references at least <math display="inline">p=10%</math> of its REP to governance, then that REP is always available for revaluing the WDAG in response to governance proposals that the DAO agrees on.
 
Then WSCs can be updated in response to such approved proposals.
 
The workers automatically use those updated WSCs (unconsciously) because their UIs automate that choice, If no governance needs to happen at the time of that particular WSC (governance should be rare compared with work) then their 10% is simply burned directly in the incinerator.
 
If every WSC is referencing the same 10% in governance, then no individual loses relative to the whole. Every worker's total REP is affected the same, so their REP salary is not affected by the 10% loss (by the [[wikipedia:Quantity_theory_of_money|Quantity Theory of Money]] in economics). They do not notice the 10% lost whenever it is incinerated because there is no actual loss in REP salary if everyone participates in the same governance "tax".
 
However, when REP is donated to someone, instead of incinerated, then this is an actual cost to the group, since the REP salary is then shared with any new REP that is not burned. But since everyone loses 10% of their REP automatically, since the tax affects everyone equally, not just the particular worker whose WSC was used to donate REP, then.
 
The <math display="inline">p=10%</math> parameter is arbitrary. Governance can decide to make <math display="inline">p=1.0%</math> if the DAO wishes governance to be slower, or <math display="inline">p=90%</math> if they desire it be faster. Any fixed percentage will not affect the WSCs' remuneration in REP salary fees.
 
However, if a DAO does change this parameter, then there will be an effect on how workers are remunerated until the lifetime of the REP token clears all the old tokens from the system.
 
Finally, the incinerator makes the reweighting primitives complete. E.g., suppose the DAO wishes to move 10 REP from post1 to post2. Then post3 uses 10 value & leaches from post1 with strength 1.0 and donates to post2 with strength 0.5 and donates to incinerator with strength 0.5.
 
Then in the end, post1 has value 0, post2 has value 10 and post3 has value 0, as desired.
 
It costs 10 REP to re-distribute 10 REP.
 
Given the constant 10% burn argument discussed above, this doesn't actually cost the poster of post3 any meaningful REP, since everyone loses 10%.
 
If everyone burns p=10% of their tokens, then nobody loses anything. If only one single person burns 10% of their tokens, then that person does suffer: they lose 10%. But if everyone burns 10%, every time, then they're all in the same situation and nobody loses, relative to each other--the REP salary is the only thing that matters, not the absolute number of REP tokens. (To put a fancy name on it, REP is a type of "gauge". While money is closer to absolute.)So if the WSC demands that everyone always cedes 10% then nobody loses. That's how governance can work without punishing anyone. The system can incorporate governance if it constantly/automatically includes p% references in everybody's WSC
 
===== Completeness =====
??Add explanation & proof
 
The primitives are 1. donating, 2. leaching, and 3. burning. Together these three functions are complete in the following sense. To say a set of reweighting functions are '''reweighting complete''' means those are the only functions you need to be able to revaluate/reweight the WDAG in any possible manner. The example discussed shows that new posts are necessary, but those new posts end with 0 weight, so they don't count in the WDAG. (Because they don't count in the REP salary.)
 
===== Governance process =====
??If every WSC post is required to donate at least 10% of its REP to governance, then that REP is always available for revaluing the WDAG in response to governance proposals that the DAO has ratified.
 
Then WSC can be updated to execute those proposals over the course of many work events, which gradually reweights the Forum.
 
The workers automatically use those updated WSCs because their UIs automate that choice,  
 
If no governance needs to happen at the time of that particular WSC (governance should be rare compared with work) then their 10% is just burned directly.
 
If every WSC is referencing the same 10% in governance, then every worker's REP is the same value (by the Quantity Theory of Money in economics). They do not notice the 10% lost whenever it is incinerated because there is no actual loss in REP salary if everyone gets the same governance "tax".
 
However, REP that is donated to someone is an actual tax, since the REP salary is then shared with any new REP that is not burned. But due to this system of everyone losing 10% of their REP at initiation, the tax affects everyone equally, not just the particular worker whose WSC was used to donate REP.
 
Finally, the 10% parameter is arbitrary. Governance can decide to make that 1% if the DAO chooses a slower governance process which demands greater deliberation. Or it may choose 90% if you they value faster governmental response. Any fixed percentage won't affect the workers' remuneration in REP salary fees, since every worker is under the same REP reward regime.
 
However, if a DAO does change this parameter, then there will be a change in how workers are remunerated, until the lifetime of the REP token clears all the old tokens from the system.


With two basic reference functions, DAOs have complete control over the process of reweighting the Forum WDAG. The reference mechanisms are ''complete'', in the sense that those are the only functions you need to be able to revaluate/reweight the WDAG in any possible manner.
==Hard protocols==
==Hard protocols==
''Main page: [[Hard protocols]]''
''Main page: [[Hard protocols]]''


Hard protocols??
Hard protocols include any hard-coded standards for DAO operations. Hard protocols are the mechanisms the DAO uses to function. These include the minting and distribution of REP tokens (executive governance through the [[Validation Pool]]), the mechanisms for submitting proposals for updates to DAO operating parameters and smart contracts (legislative governance), and the time-out periods for debating and voting on those changes.


==Soft protocols==
==Soft protocols==
''Main page: [[Soft protocols]]''
''Main page: [[Soft protocols]]''
Soft protocols are cultural norms that govern the standards for effective communication. Soft protocols affect how proposals are submitted and debated, and guide the ways the DAO typically votes on updates to DAO operating parameters and smart contracts. Soft protocols are not hard-coded, but nevertheless have an inertia which can be read and intuited from the history of the DAO recorded in the Forum.


==REP tokenomics==
==REP tokenomics==
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''Main page: [[Transcendental values]]''
''Main page: [[Transcendental values]]''


It is important to recognize that even though governance is the obvious force needed to keep an organization coherent and stable, it is not the most important force in this regard. The values and goals of an organization are ultimately more important than the explicit rules for keeping an organization solvent. This effect is particularly pronounced in decentralized organizations: when roles are less specialized and authoritative leadership is less important, members give greater importance to abstract values in maintaining harmony.  
It is important to recognize that even though governance is the obvious force needed to keep an organization coherent and stable, it is not the most important force in this regard. The values and goals of an organization are ultimately more important than the explicit rules for keeping an organization solvent. This effect is particularly pronounced in decentralized organizations: when roles are less specialized and authoritative leadership is less important, members give greater importance to abstract values in maintaining harmony. 
 
Therefore, it is important to design the system with this reality in mind. Power is determined by the incentive structure engendered by the governance process of the DAO. Whether a DAO merely states their values is less important than how the DAO acts. Thus a DAO must design its reward mechanism to be in harmony with their goals and values. Tokenomics answers how accurate this effort is, objectively.  


== Code ==
== Code ==


== See Also ==
== See also ==
 
* [[Executive governance]]
* [[Legislative governance]]
** [[Legislative governance proposals]]
* [[Judicial governance]]
** [[Judicial governance proposal|Judicial governance proposals]]
* [[Reputation]]
** [[Reputation tokenomics|REP tokenomics]]
* [[DAO Governance Framework|DGF]]


== Notes & References ==
== Notes & references ==

Latest revision as of 15:07, 18 June 2023

Governance is the process by which a DAO maintains its coherence in the present, guides the group into the future, and reviews its past actions. These three types of governance are respectively labeled executive, legislative, and judicial governance. Executive governance can be thought of as active policing of acceptable behavior. Legislative governance steers future behavior by planning future changes to executive governance protocols. Judicial governance reviews past behavior, potentially revaluing previous conclusions.

Each branch of DAO governance can be further broken down into hard and soft protocols. Hard protocols are automated by the backend distributed-computing software everyone shares. Soft protocols include cultural norms that guide members' behavior as well as automated protocols in frontend software that users may or may not elect to use.

In DGF all governance is determined through REP-weighted democracy. REP denotes reputation tokens, which are gained by peer validation and are used to vote by staking on positive or negative assertions in the Validation Pool.

Executive governance consists of automated, binding votes in Validation Pools. Legislative governance consists of a series of linked propositions in the Forum validated by votes in a series of Validation Pools which move from non-binding to binding. Judicial governance takes the form of arbitration or Forum revaluation.

Following the requirement that REP be domain specific in order to give the tokens the authentic quality of reputation, governance through REP tokens will usually require a distinct type of REP token, called gREP, as opposed to the main type of REP token the DAO uses to measure the reputation of expert workers, called REP.

DAO governance can be analyzed objectively by studying the reputation tokenomics of any particular DAO's protocols.

Overview[edit | edit source]

Governance is the explicit process for how an organization is organized. Governance is the structure which guides and constrains individual and group behavior. Governance helps an organization become and remain coherent in pursuit of their goals.

The idea of governance is best understood through its etymological roots in the Greek word, kubernetes, which means guidance, steering, control. Governance is necessary for the integrity of any organization, but it is always an overhead cost. As such, ideal governance is minimized under the constraint that it remains effective in guiding the group toward its goals. Analogously, piloting a ship is most efficient using the smallest possible adjustments that effectively steer the ship toward its destination.

Governance as control can be separated into the static concept of ownership and the dynamic concept of power.

Ownership (i.e., property or financial equity) in a DAO is determined by tokens. Tokens are digital objects that are algorithmically minted and transferred. Pseudonymous control of tokens in a DAO is accomplished using public key cryptography. Digital signatures allow someone with the secret, private key to prove ownership of a digital token without revealing their identity. This asymmetric encryption tool allows individual privacy while maintaining maximal transaction transparency in a decentralized network with no leader.

Power in a DAO is achieved with smart contracts. A smart contract is a software-program that encodes business logic in a computer program. Such automated contracts self-execute at the speed of electricity. Therefore, much more complex business arrangements are now possible on scales previously unimagined both small and large. For example, every device in the Internet of Things can dynamically negotiate with every other micro-component on the globe, in unlimited multiparty arrangements that can scale up to the level of international corporate acquisitions.

Governance, from a higher perspective, means guidance of the group, not just individual tokens. Raising our attention from the business details of token ownership and smart contract operations (executive governance), the more abstract understanding of governance concerns the justification of those primitive business operations, the analysis of the foundations of group consensus (legislative governance). As both ownership and power dynamics will necessarily evolve in time, we also need to govern how the rules change, and moreover, how to change the rules for changing the rules. Token minting and ownership is 0th-order governance. The business achieved by smart-contract-enabled token transference is 1st-order governance. How we change smart contracts and backend logic for minting tokens is 2nd-order governance. How we change the way we change contracts is 3rd-order governance. 1st and 2nd-order governance is executive governance, while 2nd and 3rd-order governance is legislative governance.

There is one higher level order of governance that is necessary in any practical application of power. Every system is flawed. Flawed means that the intent of the system is not captured by the formal protocols that are specified. Every human attempt to fully understand anything has failed to some degree. Every actual instantiation of any practical system is even more flawed, in this sense. Mistakes will be made. Every system of governance in history has therefore found it necessary to build an institution for dealing with this reality. The process of stepping outside of the system must be built into the system. This is the judicial branch of government, which reviews the system itself. 4th-order governance is how we actively review executive actions (arbitration). 5th-order governance is how we retrospectively review executive and legislative actions (Forum revaluation).

This triad of executive, legislative, and judicial governance follows the information theory triad of information transmission, processing, and storage, respectively. The goal of DGF is to specify mechanisms for achieving all these types of governance in a decentralized context.

Executive governance[edit | edit source]

Main page: Executive governance

Executive governance consists of automated policing of peer actions. The primary mechanism for executive governance is the Work smart contract (WSC), which sets the protocols for successful participation in the profit-making aspect of the DAO. The secondary executive governance mechanism is the Validation Pool, which is used to validate the completion of every WSC, using binding (tightly-coupled) votes on the acceptability of all actions that affect the DAO.

Executive governance in a DAO is the active, direct control of ownership in the organization. Executive governance consists of policing who is inside or outside the group and how much power insiders have. Executive governance is therefore the accounting of the lists of owners of the various types of tokens that have power through the DAO’s smart contracts. Inasmuch as a DAO is truly decentralized, this control must be ultimately democratic. Therefore, some sort of token-weighted voting is necessary. Inasmuch as executive governance is the process of executing the regulations the organization has already agreed to follow, executive governance should be automated as much as possible. In a DAO this means algorithmic enforcement using smart contracts run on a decentralized computing platform.

Given automated executive governance, the reward structure for policing can be rigorously valuated with REP tokenomics.

Legislative governance[edit | edit source]

Main page: Legislative governance

Legislative governance is devoted to changing the future of a DAO, debating and voting on updates to DAO operating parameters and smart contracts (hard protocols), and cultural norms (soft protocols).

The mechanism for legislative governance is the Validation Pool using a series of votes on proposals to adjust existing protocols. The proposals are recorded as posts in the Forum. The series of votes on a single proposal gradually change progressively from optional, non-binding (loosely-coupled) polls of members to binding (tightly-coupled) votes that determine new law. A tightly-coupled vote means when you vote against the majority, you lose the REP tokens used, and they are redistributed to the winners through the Validation Pool mechanism. Loosely-coupled votes merely register voters' opinions without any redistribution of REP.

Legislative governance in a DAO is primarily concerned with updating the P2P software that automates executive governance. The primary legislative governance activity is adjusting the parameters of the algorithms in the smart contracts. Such governance will always be needed, to optimize any DAO’s interaction with the dynamic market in which it functions, because we are not capable of creating a perfect system that can anticipate the future perfectly. More rarely, but still inevitably, governance will take the form of more dramatic updates to the software, such as updating UIs, updating smart contracts, and most rarely, updating back-end logic that profoundly reorganizes the functioning of the DAO.

Secondarily, legislative governance sets the culture for how members can thrive in the group. Legislation determines the rules, as well as the rules for changing the rules. This secondary function of legislation is meant to correct any identified failures or weaknesses of the DAO, which are inevitable.

Judicial governance[edit | edit source]

Main page: Judicial governance

Judicial governance of a DAO is the review and revaluation of past actions and decisions. Practical judicial governance consists of two mechanisms: 1. triggering arbitration in the course of a work smart contract, and 2. revaluing the Forum.

Arbitration[edit | edit source]

Main page: Arbitration DAO

Arbitration allows conscious intervention to adjust the standard automated outcome of a smart contract. In any DAO which employs a work smart contract (WSC), when one or more of the parties is dissatisfied with the execution of the contract, they may trigger an arbitration clause, which transfers the assets encumbered in the WSC to a judge. The judge then resolves the dispute according to the standards set by the DAO.

Arbitration is the more immediate type of judicial governance, usually only requiring an individual judge's decision.

Forum reference mechanisms[edit | edit source]

Main page: Forum reference mechanisms

The Forum reference mechanisms allows DAO members to re-weight the Forum. This means new posts can give or take REP from older posts through a weighted reference. This allows DAO members to review previous actions that had previously been given a particular quantity of REP tokens, and either slash or augment the posts' holdings depending on whether they are later deemed less or more beneficial to the DAO than had originally been decided.

Forum revaluation is more deliberate and takes more time than arbitration with a judge – it requires the weighted-democratic consensus of the larger DAO. Forum revaluation changes the REP token holdings of posts in the Forum through leaching and donating references from new validated posts.   

With two basic reference functions, DAOs have complete control over the process of reweighting the Forum WDAG. The reference mechanisms are complete, in the sense that those are the only functions you need to be able to revaluate/reweight the WDAG in any possible manner.

Hard protocols[edit | edit source]

Main page: Hard protocols

Hard protocols include any hard-coded standards for DAO operations. Hard protocols are the mechanisms the DAO uses to function. These include the minting and distribution of REP tokens (executive governance through the Validation Pool), the mechanisms for submitting proposals for updates to DAO operating parameters and smart contracts (legislative governance), and the time-out periods for debating and voting on those changes.

Soft protocols[edit | edit source]

Main page: Soft protocols

Soft protocols are cultural norms that govern the standards for effective communication. Soft protocols affect how proposals are submitted and debated, and guide the ways the DAO typically votes on updates to DAO operating parameters and smart contracts. Soft protocols are not hard-coded, but nevertheless have an inertia which can be read and intuited from the history of the DAO recorded in the Forum.

REP tokenomics[edit | edit source]

Main page: Reputation tokenomics

REP tokenomics is the study of the economic consequences of DAO governance mechanisms of the REP minting mechanism and the Forum review mechanism. These mechanisms are the major factors in the executive and judicial branches of DAO governance, respectively. By mathematically determining the rate of REP minting, distribution and redistribution, REP tokenomic analysis helps guide governance decisions to choose operating parameters which optimize incentives for behaviors that serve a DAO's goals.

Transcendental values[edit | edit source]

Main page: Transcendental values

It is important to recognize that even though governance is the obvious force needed to keep an organization coherent and stable, it is not the most important force in this regard. The values and goals of an organization are ultimately more important than the explicit rules for keeping an organization solvent. This effect is particularly pronounced in decentralized organizations: when roles are less specialized and authoritative leadership is less important, members give greater importance to abstract values in maintaining harmony.

Therefore, it is important to design the system with this reality in mind. Power is determined by the incentive structure engendered by the governance process of the DAO. Whether a DAO merely states their values is less important than how the DAO acts. Thus a DAO must design its reward mechanism to be in harmony with their goals and values. Tokenomics answers how accurate this effort is, objectively.

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