The governance process is like any democracy: a bit messy sometimes, but if handled well by all parties involved it works for the good of everyone.
We’re here to provide some general information on what that process is, and what could be considered some good practices to follow in governance.
The Forum Is Your Friend
As stated in our most recent governance call, and as outlined in the documentation, posting a discussion about your proposal in the forum and other relevant channels in the Discord helps your cause in a few different ways. One is that it helps make other community members aware of your proposal and gives you a chance to garner support for it. Secondly, it gives context to what you’re proposing. Posting in the forum also helps prevent any errors that could exist within a proposal, allowing anyone to see the details of it and catch any potential mistakes. So spreading awareness and giving context to what you are proposing allows everyone to understand what they are voting for, and gives it a higher chance of passing both in a forum poll and on-chain as a referendum.
Give It Time
To ensure the security of the network, there’s a reason that we have outlined both off-chain and on-chain measures to take when making a proposal. Allowing time for discussion and input, for the community to vote in forum polls for proposals, and for it to take it’s course in the portal as referenda are all critical to the process. The time allowed for discussion and voting are important for inclusion and understanding of what is being proposed, as well as outreach and building support for it. So patience is a virtue here.
*Note: When necessary, certain proposals can be fast-tracked by the Council, and when that happens it will always be announced in our Discord governance channels and in the respective forum posts for each proposal.
Be Receptive
Being receptive to objections or contradictory ideas is also essential to any discussion. Many aspects of what the protocol aims to do are fairly complex, and there are many people in the community with different backgrounds in different fields, each with a different knowledge base and experience. Taking the time to learn and debate in a healthy and productive way is important and again, gives each proposal a higher chance of passing if consensus is built in a constructive, thoughtful and fact-based manner.
Blockchain Isn’t Free!
To avoid spamming of the network or erroneous proposals, there are ultimately fees based in CFG for submitting proposals on-chain. This is a mechanism to ensure that the person submitting it in the portal has some genuine commitment behind it. And it should be noted that the party seconding the proposal has to match that CFG output as well.
Respect The Process
Aside from everything stated above - which is essentially saying “have good manners” - this is really about following a governance process that is consistent and comprehensible to everyone. The Centrifuge Governance Process is structured in such a way as to provide robust and healthy discussion, increase awareness of what is happening within the protocol to the greater community, and to give due time for all who wish to participate to do so. The process is open to change over time as suggested by the community, and we are consistently building out documentation and various resources to make the process as clear and non-intimidating as possible for the average community member.
Act In Good Faith
Lastly, I believe it should be noted that it’s important when putting forth discussions, polls, and proposals to be acting in good faith. There is a cost of time and in some cases tokens in the process, and to use (or abuse) the process in such a way that is dishonest or spamming will serve no one. It’s extremely rare that community or team members will disagree or agree for no reason, so listening is key here. We are all working in earnest to improve the protocol and the way it serves all parties involved. Let’s do our best to maintain that democratic spirit.
Resources
For a detailed walk-through of how to participate in governance, please visit our documentation page:
And for a brief summary of how governance works, please see this forum post:
https://gov.centrifuge.io/t/cfg-governance-summary/3161/8