The NDC is building a truly decentralized form of governance that will allow Web3 communities to fund, develop and vote on how they grow and develop.
One of those cornerstones of this radical new community is transparency. Being able to ensure that processes are adhered to, and that governance is built by and for the ecosystem is vital to the long term success of the NDC.
In this article we’re going to be exploring and explaining the Transparency Commission and its role in bringing decentralized governance to life.
What is the Transparency Commission?
The job of the transparency commission is to protect the ecosystem from malicious and nefarious actors. Its remit is to ensure there are no cartels, self-interested proposals, or coordinated attacks on looting the treasury.
It does this by investigating complaints filed by ecosystem members. The Transparency Commission has the power to investigate and if necessary, remove members from houses, and disband the relevant threat.
If this ‘Gridlocks’ the house to the point of it no longer being able to operate effectively, the Voting Body can dissolve the House and hold new elections. However the Voting Body can likewise do the same thing to the Transparency Commission, if they feel that it’s abusing its power.
The transparency commission is essentially the watch dog of the NDC.
What Powers does the Transparency Commission have?
Below is a list of the powers the Commission has.
- The power to investigate — The Commisison has the power to open an investigation against an individual elected to an NDC body. An individual can be investigated for up to a maximum of 3 times during their tenure in a governance body.
- The power to remove — The Commission can remove a member from their post.
- The power to ban — In special circumstances, the Commission can ban a community member from serving in any governance post in future.
- The power to reinstate — The Commission can reinstate a member that was previously banned.
Who can run for a seat on the Commission?
The Transparency Commission is composed of experienced and committed Community members chosen for a term by the Voting Body.
No person can be considered for election to become a member of the Transparency Commission unless they have one or more years of experience in the NEAR Ecosystem.
Transparency Commission members can be removed and disqualified from their role as transparency officers.
Members interested in running for this position should be:
- Capable of neutral investigation and analysis.
- Able to prioritize the integrity of the NDC above all else.
- Committed to listening to the complaints of the community, and willing to patiently observe and analyse behaviour without leaping towards conclusions.
- Able to recognize that an over use of their power will result in a zero-sum stalemate, whereby nobody wins and the entire system will reset.
There are seven seats on the Transparency Commission, with only 4 needed for a vote to pass.
Who regulates the Transparency Commission?
The Transparency Commission has the power to investigate members of the Commission if they have been found to abuse their power and role. The Commission has the power to bar members from running for the Commission again.
When will the Transparency Commission be established?
The Commission needs to be in place before V1 of the NDC governance model is in place. We aim to have this completed in the summer 2023.
About the NDC
The NDC, originally proposed by NEAR co-founder Illia Polosukhin, is now an independent movement led by the NEAR Community. Its goal is to establish a community treasury and governance model that allows the ecosystem to collectively make decisions on everything from funding intiatives to electing representatives. NDC’s purpose is to steward NEAR towards becoming a truly decentralized network that can self-organize and self-govern.
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What is the Transparency Commission? was originally published in NEAR Digital Collective on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.