Author: Pablo (pekshowman#0123), Matter (MatterTurbulent#5161)
Editor: enfin#5116, BruceAU#6229
Updated: Feb 12 2022
To ensure an effective and efficient DAO governance in the long run, we have determined that a DAO Constitution is the most suitable and essential instrument to achieve our goal, hence, we hereby ratifying the People DAO Constitution.
A constitution dictates the governance and structure of an organization and is the foundation for all further policies and procedures. A constitution provides stability, order, and direction. Ratifying a constitution is likely the most important milestone for a DAO. The Legal Team produced this first draft of the PeopleDAO Constitution and solicited public comments from the community. The beginning of the Constitution addresses the creation of a treasury, while the second half concerns the creation of subunits called Teams. Together, these elements formed the basis for the People DAO as an organization.
Please spare a moment to read the People DAO Constitution published on this Mirror page. We will cast a DAO-wide vote to ratify this Constitution via Snapshot soon.
*THE CONSTITUTION OF PEOPLE DAO *
Preamble
The purpose of PeopleDAO (“PeopleDAO” or “the DAO”) is to (1) advance web3 and benefit social good, (2) incubate and support subDAOs to effectuate the prime mandate, and (3) build an ecosystem around the $PEOPLE token and accrue value to its holders. We have adopted the $PEOPLE token as our governance token. Voting members of the DAO are $PEOPLE holders who use their tokens to vote on major proposals on the PeopleDAO Snapshot.**
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Article I. Establishment of the PeopleDAO General Treasury
The PeopleDAO general treasury (“Treasury”) stewards PeopleDAO’s funds using Gnosis Safe multi-signature wallet(s) (“Multisig”). As the name implies, the Multisig is designed to safeguard our common assets by implementing a multi-signer/holder system, therefore reducing the risk of treasury integrity issues. DAO members shall elect 9 (NINE) Multisig Signers through a democratic process. Multisig Signers should meet the following requirements:
Section 1. Election Method and Timeline
The Election starts with self-nomination in a Multisig-Election Channel on the PeopleDAO Discord server. Community members then narrow the candidate field using an approval voting system, whereby emoji responses constitute support for a candidate. Up to 30 shortlisted candidates based on Discord voting will be put to a final vote on Snapshot. Using approval voting, the TOP 9 Candidates are elected Multisig Signers for the following year.
Each year the election process should follow a similar schedule:
(The first Multisig election successfully concluded on Jan 22, 2022)
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Article II. Establishment of Teams in People DAO
Certain decision making powers will be delegated to a series of smaller organizational bodies called PeopleDAO team(s) (hereinafter notated as “Team” or “Teams”). The Team in the PeopleDAO is defined as an organizational unit that is both subject-specific and autonomous, with independent governing powers confined by pre-selected subject area(s). The Teams in the PeopleDAO shall be responsible for their own operation and maintenance, as well as the decision making within their respective subject areas. The majority of the Teams’ coordination will take place in subject-dedicated channels within the PeopleDAO Discord server. **
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Preferably, a Team should consist of one to two leaders and a management council of up to five, along with unlimited numbers of active members. PeopleDAO members can formalize a Team by initiating a DAO-wide vote. A formalized Team must fulfill their responsibilities and adhere to the general rules of the PeopleDAO. In return they receive privileges including but not limited to flexible funding issued by the Treasury, and the ability to vote in People Improvement Proposals (“PIPs”) using any $PEOPLE owned by the Team wallet. PIPs are proposals that address significant matters or issues within PeopleDAO.
Informal teams may be freely made and coordinated within the Discord, provided such new teams do not overlap with the existing Teams, unless with express permission from that existing Teams. The Treasury budget will not allocate funds to the informal teams.
Section 1. Appointing Team Leaders and Provisional Period
Team leaders are the primary representatives for the various People Teams. They are charged with managerial and administrative responsibilities including but not limited to: leading coordination, managing team finances, as well as tracking project schedules. **
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The first three months after the effective date of this constitutional article is a provisional period and all Team leaders during this period will be appointed on a voluntary basis. Should more than two members seek co-leadership positions within a Team， then they must present their arguments to the community, who will then vote in the Discord, facilitated by a Discord admin. Admins must set a quorum appropriate relative to the number of active Discord users at that time, and contestants are required to earn a simple majority of support to win. At such a three month mark, the PeopleDAO shall promulgate a formal rule of appointing Team roles and setting term limits as necessary, such as involving an election process.**
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During this provisional period, should the community have other major grievances about Team management, members may call for a vote of impeachment, conducted in the same fashion as mentioned above within the Discord server.
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Section 2. Consensus Mechanisms and Autonomy of Team
Teams will have their own consensus mechanisms, as determined by their respective Team leads and advised by their own management council(s). This may consist, but is not limited to, polling, informal discussion, debate, etc. Unless extenuating circumstances exist, the PeopleDAO governing body shall not interfere with the internal affairs such as project development and dispute resolutions of various Teams.
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Section 3. Delegation/Granting of Powers
The powers within the PeopleDAO are ultimately held by the $PEOPLE holders, though the obligations and privileges prescribed in this document and future amendments, are distributed among the PeopleDAO governance body, Teams, and individual members.
The general governance and administrative power of PeopleDAO, excluding those that are exclusively confined to the operation and management within any Team, are vested in the PeopleDAO main governance body.
Autonomous governance and administrative power is vested in the People Teams. This includes the operation and management of internal affairs of Teams, in addition to project creation and product issuance.
The general treasury power of PeopleDAO, including general budget and spending, is vested in the PeopleDAO main governance body, subject to all necessary DAO-wide public notice and approval procedures.
The Team-specific treasury power of PeopleDAO, which means the utilization and disposition of all funds and assets made available either by Treasury or any other means, is vested in the Teams. These funds will be applied and managed through Team Gnosis Safe wallets whose key will be held by Team leaders and management councils.
Provisional powers, such as a temporary power to conduct certain activities within a given time period that will impact the economic interest of members, may be granted to the Teams in the PeopleDAO from time to time, subject to a DAO-wide provisional power granting vote. A simple majority meeting a quorum of at least 100 million $PEOPLE.
The undelegated, ungranted powers are reserved for Teams and individual PeopleDAO members.
Section 4. Amendment and Revision to Powers
The powers delegated/granted by Article 1 and Article 2 of this Constitution and its sections may be amended and annexed in the future as necessary. Amendments, revisions and annexation can occur when significant public conversation deems it necessary.
Any member of the DAO may propose an amendment. Prior to formal submission, a draft amendment should be posted for public comment for no less than two weeks, during which time the proposer may make modifications in response to community comments. Upon formal submission, the amendment will be evaluated by Team leaders in a timely fashion, taking into account both public comment and Team management council input. If approved by a simple majority of Team leaders, the amendment will be put to a DAO-wide vote. A super majority of 67% with a quorum of at least 200 million $PEOPLE is required to approve amendments, which become effective immediately unless stated otherwise in the amendment itself. **
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Section 5. PeopleDAO Teams Budget Appropriation
Following the establishment of the PeopleDAO Treasury, a portion of the budget will be utilized and granted to Teams for flexible spending to fulfill their mandates. Treasury will review and approve quarterly Team budget on a need-basis, subject to necessary procedures.
The budgetary process will be outlined at a future date, with prior public notice that allows for comments. The budgetary process will be formalized upon a DAO-wide voting subject to all the applicable procedures. Teams will be required to report on how funds were spent and to what degree expended funds benefited the PeopleDAO.
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Section 6. The Different Teams of People DAO and Their Mandates
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Preface. Team Autonomy and Expansion of Mandates
As set forth in the preceding sections, each Team in PeopleDAO may set up its own consensus mechanisms and administrative rules. At the creation of this Constitution, 5 Teams are assembled to fulfill the initial functionalities of the DAO, each Team has the authority to ratify its rules of internal operation and administration. Upon creation of a new Team, founding members shall promulgate essential rules and expand this Section as necessary. Teams are advised to review their own rules from time to time in order to ensure maximum practicality and efficiency.
Section 6a. Legal Team
The legal team is charged with working on activities related to procedural issues in governance. These may include finalizing and posting Snapshots, facilitating constitutional amendments, and running elections. Additionally, the legal team is responsible for organizing processes pertaining to impeachments, dispute resolution, and code of conduct review. In principle, the team shall not act as a tribunal other than acting as arbiter or mediator in a minor dispute resolution. In case of a major conflict, the team should recruit a disinterested third party or organize an impartial committee.
DAOs and web3 represent a frontier for society, and its permissionless nature sometimes clashes with laws made by nation states. The legal team will also be responsible for researching and providing recommendations related to legal matters.
Finally, clarity in a partnership facilitates effective coordination and business. The legal team will also draft contracts between subDAO and metaDAO and between PeopleDAO and DAOs we are collaborating with. **
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Section 6b. Development Team
Coding is the bedrock of web3. The development team is in charge of writing well-tested code and building high-quality software. They are responsible for creating and maintaining iterations of the PeopleDAO website. Additionally, this team contributes talents to different applications which may include DeFI or GameFi. Apart from coding, they are responsible for sending regular updates to the managers of respective development projects. They work closely with other Teams in the community such as assisting the design team with collecting wallet addresses for POAP distribution. **
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Section 6c. Design Team
The design team will be responsible for stewarding the development, production, and distribution of POAPS, which provide proof of attendance in PeopleDAO events and activities. These POAPs incentivize participation in the PeopleDAO and have the potential to unlock further benefits. The design team will lead similar activities for other types of NFTs, which may also involve sales or auctions. Selling NFTs raises revenue for the PeopleDAO and doubles as outreach into web3 communities. Throughout its duties the team may build partnerships or set up design contests, among other activities.
Branding tells the story and values of an organization. The design team is vested with shaping the PeopleDAO branding, a process which will also include assessments of community preferences.
Lastly, as part of its operations, the design team will recognize and support talented artists and designers within the PeopleDAO community. **
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Section 6d. Translation Team
The PeopleDAO community is global and comprises thousands of non-English speakers. Our goal is to provide educational content in all languages and minimize the language barriers such that people from all lingual backgrounds can receive the maximum benefit of the community.
The translation team currently implements a claim system, and whoever has time can translate according to the documents provided by the community. Documents mainly include important matters in the community, the report and summary of the AMA, and meeting notes from the weekly PeopleDAO meeting. The team strives to provide accurate and timely translation for the community. **
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Section 6e. Marketing Team
The marketing team fuels social media content released by official PeopleDAO channels. Additionally, it runs social marketing campaigns, raising awareness about PeopleDAO news and $PEOPLE token in the web3 community. It should run at least one campaign per budgeting cycle. Giveaways and contests can be integrated into these campaigns or implemented in one-offs.
Lastly, the marketing team shall produce regular memes including but not limited to the ConstitutionDAO story, ongoing villany of Ken Griffin, and other figures of similar characters and traits deemed meme-worthy by the community.
Section 6f. Writers Team
The Writes Team is assembled to address the increasing demand for effective and entertaining literal creation. While multimedia contents overtook a large part of our internet experiences these days, accurate and effective written communication remain keys to deliver crucial information. In fact, despite the many forms of media contents available out there, the most common, if not the only way to disseminate a formal message in any community is still through writing. The Writers Team is charged with all forms of literal creation to aid and advance of various goals of People DAO.
The Writers Team is assembled to address the increasing demand for insightful and entertaining writing. While video has overtaken a large part of our internet experience these days, written communication remains the best tool for delivering complex and nuanced ideas. Furthermore, because the precision of language, writing continues to be the means through which organizations release policies and formal messages to their communities.
The Writers Team is charged with both producing written contents for the DAO, but also stewarding the DAO’s editorial platform on Mirror.xyz. As such, they coordinate with other teams to copyedit and publish documents such as white papers, People Improvement Proposals, and more.
Literature never goes out of date, the People DAO fully intend to carry this ancient power to Web3.