The Guidebook to Cardano Governance

[GENERAL] Name and surname of main applicant

Eystein Magnus Hansen (North Block AS)

[GENERAL] Are you delivering this project as an individual or as an entity (whether formally incorporated or not)

Entity (Incorporated)

[GENERAL] Please specify how many months you expect your project to last (from 2-12 months)

12

[GENERAL] Please indicate if your proposal has been auto-translated into English from another language

No

[GENERAL] Summarize your solution to the problem (200-character limit including spaces)

We have a team from the Cardano community who were actively involved with developing and testing Cardano’s decentralized governance system. We will write and publish a book about Cardano governance.

[GENERAL] Does your project have any dependencies on other organizations, technical or otherwise?

Yes

[GENERAL] If YES, please describe what the dependency is and why you believe it is essential for your project’s delivery. If NO, please write “No dependencies.”

This project depends on the text of CIP-1694, which is kept in a repository maintained by the Cardano Foundation. It also depends on the code of the Cardano core software, the genesis files of the Cardano ledger, and the text of the Cardano Constitution, which are kept in repositories maintained by Intersect MBO.

[GENERAL] Will your project’s output/s be fully open source?

Yes

[GENERAL] Please provide here more information on the open source status of your project outputs

 All materials will be released under Creative Commons License: CC BY-SA

[METADATA] Horizons

Governance

[SOLUTION] Please describe your proposed solution

This project will literally “write the book” on Cardano Governance. Over the past two years the Cardano community has been preparing for the Voltaire era by creating and testing a governance framework and code for implementation. This team has been involved from the community side of Cardano governance from the beginning and will record the process and discoveries made along the way.

One main audience for this book will be the Cardano Community, who will benefit from a historical record of the creation of Voltaire governance so they can better engage in governance activities. Another audience will be the wider blockchain community and world at large that does not know about Cardano and will learn how this blockchain can benefit them.

Impact of this project will be proven by the quality of writing in the resulting book and how many people find it useful. Ideas for chapters include:

• The history of Voltaire
• Stake pool operator governance
• Delegated Representative governance
• Constitutional Council governance
• Ada holder governance
• DAO’s and Cardano governance
• Under the hood
• Protocol parameter changes
• The Cardano Constitution process from interim to ratified constitution
• Membership-based organization governance
• The budget process
• Core infrastructure and roadmap 
• Final words. 

[IMPACT] Please define the positive impact your project will have on the wider Cardano community

We believe a book on Cardano governance by the community will be helpful and could inspire more people to participate and better understand Cardano governance. It will also bring attention to Cardano from the wider blockchain community and the world at large.

[CAPABILITY & FEASIBILITY] What is your capability to deliver your project with high levels of trust and accountability? How do you intend to validate if your approach is feasible?

This project will succeed because of the strong team dedicated to writing this book.

Adam Dean:

Former Stake Pool Operator (SPO, BUFFY and SPIKE pools), co-founding member Stake Pool Operators Collective Representation Assembly (SPOCRA), co-founder Buffy Bot Publishing (Cardano NFT Minting Service 2021-2023), co-founder DripDropz, co-founder NFTxLV, CIP Editor, member of the Interim Constitutional Committee, member of the Open Source and Technical Steering Committees at Intersect, engineer of the first on-chain voting system on Cardano, publisher of the first metadata on Cardano, publisher of the first Governance Action on Cardano.

Adam Rusch:

Teaching Assistant Professor of Information Sciences at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. Founding Core Contributor of ADAO and Co-Founder of Summon Platform. Organizer of Chicago CIP-1694 Workshop, Indianapolis DRep Code of Conduct Workshop, and Chicago DRep Pioneer Workshop. Member of Cardano Civics Committee, Constitution Drafting & Ratification Working Group, Head of Governance Parameters Working Group of the Parameters Committee, and member of the Community Advisory Board of Intersect MBO. Sancho Testnet DRep and participant in network governance stress test.

Eystein Magnus Hansen:

Helped draft initial versions of the Cardano constitution through the drafting and ratification working group of the Civics committee of Intersect and also followed the process to ratification through the Civics Committee. Worked on the initial core infrastructure roadmap working group for a process to add core infrastructure to the roadmap in the governance era. Developed a Code of Conduct for DReps together with the rest of the community and was a DRep pioneer program participant who created educational material for DReps. 

Lloyd Duhon:

Founder of GM Cardano (Governance Matters) podcast, Co-Founder of Living Greens Urban Farm, former COO of DripDropz, Subject Matter Expert for Cardano Budget Committee at Intersect MBO. Member of the Cardano Civics Committee, Constitution Drafting & Ratification Working Group, and Secretary of the Community Advisory Board of Intersect MBO. 

Mike Hornan:

Dedicated contributor to the Cardano ecosystem, actively involved with Testing SanchoNet boundaries since its inception. He took control of the testnet governance system twice for testing purposes, earning the playful nickname "SanchoNet Dictator." Mike conceptualized the "CIP-1694 in a Nutshell" infographics and developed informative visuals for the Governance Protocol Parameters group. As a member of the Governance Protocol Parameters Committee, he played a key role in recommending the initial protocol parameter values for the Conway Era. Additionally, Mike serves on the Cardano Interim Constitutional Committee and has created numerous video tutorials on Cardano governance, mentoring and integrating many individuals into the governance framework of the Cardano ecosystem.

[PROJECT MILESTONES] What are the key milestones you need to achieve in order to complete your project successfully?

Title: Project Orientation

A: Milestone outputs

• Develop an outline of book themes and topics
• Finalize a list of chapters and assign main authors

B: Acceptance criteria

• Completed outline of themes and topics
• Published list of chapters with author assignments

C: Evidence of milestone completion

• Publish outline of book themes and topics in project GitHub
• Publish list of chapters with author assignments and confirmation from authors that they accept their assignments.

Title: Book Progress

A: Milestone outputs

• Produce Introductory Chapter for the book
• Assess writing progress on topic chapters

B: Acceptance criteria

• Completed Introductory Chapter for the book
• Written report on progress each author has made on their assigned chapter

C: Evidence of milestone completion

• Publish Introductory Chapter for the book in project GitHub
• Publish report of progress each author has made on their assigned chapter with verification of authenticity by the author.

Title: Book Draft

A: Milestone outputs

• Produce complete first draft of the book
• Request review and revision from the Cardano Community and professional editors

B: Acceptance criteria

• Completed first draft of the book
• Advertised call for comments on book draft to the Cardano Community through social media and discussion forums

C: Evidence of milestone completion

• Publish book draft in project GitHub
• Public advertisement that the draft is complete and comments are being sought

Title: Book Publication

A: Milestone outputs

• Produce final draft of the book
• Publish final draft as first edition of the book

B: Acceptance criteria

• Completed final draft of the book 
• Publish first edition of book on Cardano blockchain

C: Evidence of milestone completion

• Final draft of book can be found in project GitHub
• First edition of book can be found published on Cardano blockchain

Title: Final Milestone

A: Milestone outputs

• Create a final close-out report
• Create a final close-out video

B: Acceptance criteria

• Submit final close-out report
• Submit final close-out video

C: Evidence of milestone completion

• Publish final close-out report on GitHub
• Publish final close-out video on YouTube

[RESOURCES] Who is in the project team and what are their roles?

Editor: Eystein Magnus Hansen working through North Block AS.

Contributing Authors: Eystein Hansen, Adam Dean, Adam Rusch, Lloyd Duhon, and Mike Hornan.

[BUDGET & COSTS] Please provide a cost breakdown of the proposed work and resources

Eystein Hansen

• 18,000 ADA for writing contributions (1,500 ADA per month x 12 months)
• 10,000 ADA budget for hiring proofreaders and miscellaneous project expenses

Adam Dean

• 18,000 ADA for writing contributions (1,500 ADA per month x 12 months)

Adam Rusch

• 18,000 ADA for writing contributions (1,500 ADA per month x 12 months)

Lloyd Duhon

• 18,000 ADA for writing contributions (1,500 ADA per month x 12 months)

Mike Hornan

• 18,000 ADA for writing contributions (1,500 ADA per month x 12 months)

[VALUE FOR MONEY] How does the cost of the project represent value for money for the Cardano ecosystem?

In North America and Scandinavia, the locations where the team is located, freelance consultants in the technical writing industry can demand rates of $50-150 per hour. Because of the colloquial nature of this work, a rate of 150 ADA per hour ($52.50 per hour at $.35 USD/ADA) is reasonable. That corresponds to payment for working 10 hours per month, though the authors expect they will voluntarily put in more time.

Each author will be responsible for providing their own resources and equipment for writing tasks and will be responsible for paying their own self-employment taxes.. Group expenses such as blockchain fees for publication and decentralized storage costs of data will be covered by the miscellaneous project expenses budget.