Cardano Governance
Shape the future of Cardano. Participate in governance and have your voice heard on the network's direction, applications, and growth.
Cardano's governance model
Cardano’s decentralized and community-driven governance ensures stakeholders make collective, transparent network decisions.
Cardano’s decentralized and community-driven governance ensures stakeholders make collective, transparent network decisions.
Empowering active participation with immutable, on-chain voting.
Cardano governance enables the community to influence blockchain development through treasury withdrawals, parameter changes, and other governance actions.
Governance actions require approval from at least two of the three governance roles: Delegated Representatives (DReps), Stake Pool Operators (SPOs), and the Constitutional Committee (CC), ensuring fairness and transparency.
Decentralized governance strengthens Cardano’s security and resilience by distributing decision-making power, reducing single points of failure, and ensuring network stability.
As a registered Delegated Representative (DRep), the Cardano Foundation participates in governance following the Ethos and Principles defined in ‘Our Cardano'.
The Cardano Foundation serves on the Interim Constitutional Committee (ICC), ensuring governance actions align with the Cardano Constitution while maintaining neutrality and transparency.
Anyone can participate in discussions about Cardano’s constitution, it's budget, the role of delegated representatives, the Parameter Committee, and many other topics.
Understanding governance actions
Understanding governance actions
Cardano’s governance decisions involve seven action types, including Protocol Parameter Changes, Treasury Withdrawals, and Hard Fork Initiations. At least two of the three governance roles (DReps, SPOs, and CC) must approve an action. As an ICC member and DRep, the Cardano Foundation is committed to voting on all governance actions and providing a detailed rationale. Below is an overview of our recent voting activity.
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DRep ID: drep1ydpfkyjxzeqvalf6fgvj7lznrk8kcmfnvy9hyl6gr6ez6wgsjaelx
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CC ID: cc_cold1zwmqzgp5hg98ujhmhuk859pjlzpy4mjjnxjguw8yr22jdps6c64hp
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Governance deliberations: meeting notes
Governance deliberations: meeting notes
The Governance Advisory Team, consisting of subject-matter experts, regularly reviews governance actions and advises on decision-making. To maintain transparency, we publish meeting notes summarizing key discussions and decisions.
09/04/2025
The meeting covered the status and voting strategy for two Net Change Limit governance actions, noting potential challenges in reaching the required 50%+1 approval threshold due to DRep participation levels. Deliberations also addressed the high 67% threshold for Treasury Withdrawal actions, the unclear process following budget approval, and concerns regarding DRep voting engagement. Discussions included the technical feasibility of using GovTool for DRep voting and the complexities of creating a standardized assessment framework for diverse budget proposals, considering alignment with the Cardano roadmap and potential funding ceilings. Next steps involve finalizing votes on the Net Change Limits, associated communications to encourage DRep participation, testing GovTool compatibility, and refining an internal approach for assessing budget proposals.
02/04/2025
The meeting focused on reviewing two competing Net Change Limit (NCL) info actions, noting their current low approval rates and discussing their constitutional standing. Deliberations leaned towards recommending a 'no' vote on the anonymous proposal and a 'yes' on Intersect's proposal from a DRep perspective, citing reasons related to timing and enabling treasury access, while considering both actions likely constitutional. Plans were established to finalize recommendations for ICC voting on April 9th and DRep voting on April 10th, alongside coordinating internal processes and external communications.
26/03/2025
Discussions centered on coordinating votes for the 'Vision and Roadmap' info action and assessing two competing Net Change Limit (NCL) proposals, including deliberations on their parameters, the 50%+1 lovelace approval threshold, and process implications. Broader governance system concerns regarding potential paralysis, constitutional interpretation, and proposal quality were also debated, reflecting differing views on system health. Immediate next steps include voting on the info action and continuing the review and deliberation process for both NCL proposals.
19/03/2025
The advisory team examined the implications of the new constitution on governance actions, focusing on info actions, mutable metadata, and the distinct roles involved in voting on budget proposals, net change limit (NCL), and the current info action regarding the Cardano roadmap and vision for 2025 and beyond. Discussions highlighted the need for consistency in voting practices, debating whether to record votes on non-binding info actions, emphasizing the importance of using immutable metadata for transparency, and balancing on-chain voting participation with detailed rationale. The team also explored enhancements to meeting note transparency and discoverability to support ongoing community engagement.
05/03/2025
On 05 March 2025, the Governance Advisory Team focused on several key governance topics including the parameter change governance action to reduce the treasury cut, an info action addressing the 2025 vision and roadmap, and DRep delegation strategy. Discussions examined procedural order, constitutional concerns regarding mutable data links, and the balance between increased influence and maintaining accountability, with clear next steps identified.
Our Cardano
Our Cardano outlines the Ethos and Principles that guide the Cardano Foundation’s participation in governance, ensuring transparency, accountability, and responsible stewardship in fostering a thriving, decentralized ecosystem.
How we make governance decisions
How we make governance decisions
The Cardano Foundation has established a Governance Advisory Team, consisting of subject-matter experts, to evaluate governance proposals based on constitutional alignment and governance merit. The process follows these steps:
01
Governance action intake
Governance Action details are recorded on the Foundation’s Jira Kanban board, and Advisory Team members are notified.
02
Initial assessment
The Advisory Team assesses clarity, potential impact, and criticality of the action and requests input from relevant subject-matter experts (SMEs).
03
Full review
The Advisory Team conducts an in-depth review, including a constitutional review (as an ICC member) and a governance impact assessment (as a DRep).
04
Advisory team recommendation
The Advisory Team votes on the Governance Action.
05
Rationale drafting
Two voting rationales are drafted—one for the constitutional assessment and another for the DRep decision.
06
Executive committee review
The Executive Committee reviews and finalizes the rationale.
07
On-chain vote submission
The vote is submitted on-chain, with metadata including the rationale behind the decision.