CIP: 2
title: Adopt Governance Process for CityDAO Improvement Proposals
author: Justin Kalland
status: Phase-2
created: 2021-09-09
Signaling Snapshot PollSimple Summary
Formalize the detailed process for proposing, voting, and adopting CIPs (CityDAO Improvement Proposals).
Abstract
This proposal provides a detailed structured process for CityDAO governance proposals. Any individual or entity wishing to create a proposal and put it up to vote will need to go through those steps to ensure that its proposal is detailed enough to be voted on and its implementation enforceable.
Motivation
As the DAO matures we have more citizens wanting to participate in governance. There has been confusion on how to do this. We need a process that is fair and easy to follow, while ensuring a bare minimum quality and avoiding voter fatigue.
Specification
The CityDAO governance process is primarily conducted using the CIPs category . For a proposal to be accepted, it must successfully pass through three phases:
| Phase | Starting event | Duration | Passing Requirements |
|---|---|---|---|
| Phase 1: Ideation | Ideation post created on the CityDAO Forum in the CIP category with a Phase 1 tag | Open-ended | For proposals to successfully pass from Phase 1 to Phase 2, there is no formal requirement. However, if a Phase 1 proposal discussion fails to garner momentum from the community, it is unlikely to become a successful proposal. |
| Phase 2: Specification | CityDAO Improvement Proposal (CIP) post created with a Phase 2 tag and a corresponding signalling poll on Snapshot | 3 days | For proposals to successfully pass from Phase 2 to Phase 3, there must be one outcome with a relative majority of votes on the Snapshot signalling poll. If the relative majority of votes on the poll indicates the result Make no changes, the proposal will not pass to Phase 3. |
| Phase 3: Consensus | CityDAO Improvement Proposal (CIP) post refined and edited with a Phase 3 tag and a corresponding binding proposal on Snapshot | 7 days | For proposals to be accepted in this final phase, there must be one outcome with a relative majority of votes in the Snapshot proposal. If the relative majority of votes on the proposal indicates the result Make no changes, the proposal will not be accepted and considered closed. |
Phase 1: Ideation
This phase facilitates an initial, informal discussion on these forums regarding potential proposals. You can initiate a proposal in Phase 1 by posting your idea in the CIPs category with the phase-1 tag. This phase allows proposals to gather community insight for refinement before opening a formal poll.
Duration: Open-ended
Passing Requirement: For proposals to successfully pass from Phase 1 to Phase 2, there is no formal requirement. However, if a Phase 1 proposal discussion fails to garner any momentum from the community, it is unlikely to become a successful proposal.
Phase 2: Specification
This phase requires proposals to be posted in a new dedicated thread the CIPs category using the CityDAO Improvement Proposal (CIP) template. You can create a CityDAO Improvement Proposal (CIP) easily by adding the CIP subcategory, after which your draft post will automatically be populated by a CIP template for you to fill in. You can move a proposal to Phase 2 by posting the CIP-# with the phase-2 tag.
The CIP template recommends that all proposals should contain the following fields when applicable , such as a Simple Summary, Abstract, Motivation and Specification.
In addition to these fields, Phase 2 proposals must also include a link to a 3-day long signalling poll on CityDAO Snapshot page about the proposal outcome (that contains the proposal text as well as a link to the HIP post on the forum), and it must include the option Make no changes. The Phase 2 proposal poll on Snapshot should be prefixed by [Signalling] to differentiate them from binding Phase 3 proposal votes*. Each Citizen NFT gets one vote.
*In the near future, if we are able to create polls on the forum only open to Discourse accounts linked to a Citizen NFT, then the signalling poll could be done on the forum. This change would require a new CIP.
Duration: 3 days
Passing Requirement: For proposals to successfully pass from Phase 2 to Phase 3, there must be one outcome with a relative majority of votes on the snapshot poll. If the relative majority of votes on the snapshot poll indicates the result Make no changes, the proposal will not pass to Phase 3.
Phase 3: Consensus
Move a proposal to Phase 3 by editing the CIP post from the previous phase to reflect the snapshot signalling poll result that received a relative majority of votes and by updating the proposalās tag to phase-3. This serves to refine the proposal for the final phase.
Additionally, a CityDAO proposal must be created on Snapshot (that contains the proposal text as well as a link to the CIP post on the forum), it must be prefixed by [Binding] and it must include the option Make no changes. Each Citizen NFT gets one vote.
Duration: 7 days
Passing Requirement: For proposals to be accepted in this final phase, there must be one outcome with a relative majority of votes in the Snapshot proposal. If the relative majority of votes on the proposal indicates the result Make no changes, the proposal will not be accepted and considered closed.
Any snapshot proposal not following these guidelines can be considered non-binding.
Many thanks to teams in the ecosystem including PoH, Gnosis, Balancer and Uniswap, which inspired this governance process.
CIP Template
CIP: <Number to be assigned>
title: <CIP title>
author: <a list of the author's or authors' name(s) and/or username(s), or name(s) and email(s),
status: Draft
created: <date created on, in ISO 8601 (yyyy-mm-dd) format>
requires (*optional): <CIP number(s)>
replaces (*optional): <CIP number(s)>
Simple Summary
(Required for Phase 1)
If you canāt explain it simply, you donāt understand it well enough. Provide a simplified and layman-accessible explanation of the CIP.
Abstract
(Required for Phase 1)
A short (~200 word) description of the issue being addressed.
Motivation
(Required for Phase 1)
The motivation is critical for CIPs that want to allocate funding or change the DAO. CIP posts without sufficient motivation may be rejected outright.
Specification
(Required for Phase 2)
The technical specification should describe the syntax and semantics of any new feature. The specification should be detailed enough to allow for it to be reasoned about by participants in CityDAO.
Rationale
(Recommended for Phase 2)
The rationale fleshes out the specification by describing what motivated the design and why particular design decisions were made. It should describe alternate designs that were considered and related work. The rationale may also provide evidence of consensus within the community, and should discuss important objections or concerns raised during discussion.
Implementation
(If necessary, recommended for Phase 3)
Signaling Snapshot Poll