Governance
Liquid Delegations
Liquid Delegations: Overview
Miner Groups may use the liquid delegation process to replace their existing their Council Member(s) with new representatives at any time, so long as the ceremony does not overlap with the annual, 7 day election period. By empowering Miner Groups with “liquid” election authority that enables them to remove and replace their Council Members at any time, miners may be able to keep representatives’ accountable to their preferences in important decisions.
The following section first provides context by describing the attributes of the system involved, the actors, and the governance system which structure election ceremonies and then describes the election ceremony process, its outcomes, and evaluative criteria that could be used by to determine which outcomes the community would deem satisfactory.
Liquid Delegation Rules: Overview
- Delegations | Rules
- Description | Special election ceremonies in which Miner Groups replace their existing Council Members with new representatives.
- Frequency | Miners may submit liquid delegation proposals anytime outside of an election window.
- Duration | 7 days
- Nomination Rules | Must submit a nomination application to the Telcoin forum at most 6 months and at least 24 hours prior to the proposal.
- Proposal Rules | A miner with 2% of their Group’s voting power or a TAO member submits at least two candidates to the Miner Group’s snapshot: a replacement candidate(s) from the forum and the existing Council Member.
- Voting Rules | The Miner Group votes for the Council Member(s).
- Approval | Plurality, the candidate(s) with the most votes win.
- Quorum | 20%
- Outcome | The candidate with the most votes either retains or is transferred a Council Member governance NFT, conferring them proposal, voting authority and a flow of TEL issuance.
Liquid Delegation Rules: Nominations
- Candidates | Required Attributes | Entry Rules | Nominations Channel
- Platform Council | All miners are eligible subject to the following conditions. | Must submit a fully complete nomination application to the Platform Council nominations channel on the Telcoin forum, within the past 6 months, outside of an election period. | (Coming Soon)
- Treasury Council | All miners are eligible subject to the following conditions. | Must submit a fully complete nomination application to the Treasury Council nominations channel on the Telcoin forum, within the past 6 months, outside of an election period. | (Coming Soon)
- Compliance Council | All miners with a juris doctorate degree are eligible subject to the following conditions. | Must submit a fully complete nomination application to the Compliance Council nominations channel on the Telcoin forum, within the past 6 months, outside of an election period. | (Coming Soon)
- TAN Council | All miners are eligible subject to the following conditions. | Must submit a fully complete nomination application to the TAN Council nominations channel on the Telcoin forum, within the past 6 months, outside of an election period. | (Coming Soon)
- TELx Council | All miners are eligible subject to the following conditions. | Must submit a fully complete nomination application to the TELx Council nominations channel on the Telcoin forum, within the past 6 months, outside of an election period. | (Coming Soon)
Liquid Delegation Rules: Proposals
- Proposal Authority: Miners with 2% of their constituency’s voting power and the Telcoin Association Operations UAB (TAO) members may submit liquid delegation proposals at any time, so long as the proposal does not overlap with an election ceremony.
- Required Actions: In order to submit a liquid delegations proposal, a proposal author must submit a proposal, including only the existing Council Member and at least one replacement candidate to their Miner Group’s snapshot for voting.
- Miner Group | Required Attributes | Condition for Authority | Required Actions
- Stakers | All Stakers are eligible subject to the following conditions. | The author must have at least 2% of staked TEL by stakers delegated to their address. | The author must include only the existing Council Member and one replacement candidate in the proposal.
- Liquidity Miners | All Liquidity Miners are eligible subject to the following conditions. | The author must have at least 2% of eligible, staked TELx LPTs delegated to their address. | The author must include only the existing Council Member and one replacement candidate in the proposal.
- Developers | All Developers are eligible subject to the following conditions. | The author must have at least 2% of TEL staked by Developers delegated to their authorized wallet. | The author must include only the existing Council Member and one replacement candidate in the proposal.
- Validators | All Validators are eligible subject to the following conditions. | After a quorum has been met, the author must have at least 2% of eligible TEL staked for validation delegated to their authorized vault address. | The author must include only the existing Council Member and one replacement candidate in the proposal.
- The TAO | Must be a TAO member. | The author must possess a TAO NFT. | The author must include only the existing Council Member and one replacement candidate in the proposal.
Liquid Delegation: Ceremony and Outcomes
- Nominations: Candidates submit their nomination applications to the proper channel on the Telcoin forum.
- Liquid Delegation Proposal: A miner with 2% voting power within their Miner Group or a TAO member submits two candidates to the electorate Miner Group’s snapshot: a replacement candidate and the existing Council Member.
- Miner Voting: Miners within the relevant Miner Group vote for candidates over a 7 day period from the time the liquid delegation proposal was submitted.
- Council Member Selection: After 7 days, either the existing Council Member maintains their position and governance NFT or the newly selected Council Member is automatically transferred the position’s governance NFT.
- Outcome
- Quorum is met: After 7 days, the candidate the most votes will be transferred a governance NFT conferring them governance authority and an ongoing stream of TEL issuance to their wallet.
- Quorum is not met: In the event a Miner Group fails to reach a quorum, the existing Council Member will maintain their ownership of a governance and NFT and associated rights.
- Outcome
- Note: Review the Compliance Council Improvement Process[CCIP] for information related to the Council Member authorization process after elections.
Evaluative Criteria
Consistency with Shared Values: Is the proposed delegation consistent with the the Mission, Vision, Values defined in Article 4.1 (a-c) of the Telcoin Association Constitution?
- Overview: The Telcoin Association Constitution is a living, breathing document subject to indefinite adaptation by the Miner Assembly. The mission, vision, and values, collectively (’Mission’) found in Article 4.1(a, b, c) serves as a moral basis used by Miners to interpret and determine what actions and outcomes are acceptable in governance processes.
Compliance with collective-choice rules: Did the liquid delegation process follow the collective-choice rules regulating the process and outcomes?
- Council Member Selection Rules
Participation: To what extent are Miner Groups participating in council member selection and co-production processes? To what extent are Council Members participating in deliberation and co-production processes with other Miners?
- Definition and Importance
- Definition: Measured by the number of actors and their level of involvement in associated processes.
- Importance: Participation tends to increase legitimacy; co-production can be especially effective form of participation.
- Indicators: Miners and Council Members
- Miners: Co-production and council member selection
- Co-Production: The number of Miners with staked TEL in Miner production processes,
- Council Member Selection: The number of voters in council member selection processes as measured by quorum rates, and the overall number of election processes undertaken by Miner Groups to keep Council Members accountable.
- Council Members: Co-production and deliberation
- Co-Production: The number of Council Members with TEL staked in which production processes.
- Deliberation: The amount of interaction between a Council Member and the community in determining community preferences related to their domain.
- Miners: Co-production and council member selection
Legitimacy: Do individual miners within a Miner Group view a given liquid delegation process undertaken by their Miner Group as legitimate?
- Definition and Importance
- Definition: Legitimacy as seen by participants in decision processes.
- Importance: Lack of legitimacy as seen by participants may lead to conflict between actors and reduce participation rates.
- Indicators
- Approval and Quorum Rates: High approval and quorum rates are a meaningful indicator of legitimacy by a miner group.
- Deliberation: How much time did the Miner Group spend interacting with candidates?
Accountability: Are the Council Members actively made accountable to Miner Groups concerning the policies and rules they choose?
- Definition and Importance
- Definition: When evaluating collective-choice or constitutional-choice levels, one can ask whether officials are accountable to citizens concerning the policies and rules chosen.
- Importance: Without accountability, actors can engage in the various opportunistic, strategic behaviors. Achieving accountability requires that information about the preferences of citizens be available to decision makers.
- Definition: When evaluating collective-choice or constitutional-choice levels, one can ask whether officials are accountable to citizens concerning the policies and rules chosen.
- Indicators: Council Members must be accountable to Miners concerning the rules and improvements they implement, and the election process is a mechanism used by Miners to enforce their preferences.
- Information-sharing: The community has numerous forums and ample time within deliberation processes to share their preferences with Council members.
- Enforcement Actions: If the Council proposes to implement something the community of Miners disagrees with, are Miner Groups replacing Members using election processes?