A Framework for the Governing Bodies of the NEAR Digital Collective

There are four governing bodies of the NDC Governance Framework. Each governing body has specific roles and capabilities such that a system of checks and balances can develop. At a high level, these roles and capabilities are summarized as follows:

• House of Merit: Propose and Allocate - 15 seats to start, adding 2 each congress until 31 is reached.
• Council of Advisors: Advise and Block - 7 seats set.
• Transparency Commission: Investigate and Remove - 7 seats set.
• Voting Body: all non-blacklisted human participants in the NEAR Ecosystem. There are no requirements for being a member of the voting body beyond possession of 'I am Human' face verification SBT and not being on the blacklist.

The role and powers vested in these different governing bodies provide a robust framework for ensuring governance of the Community Treasury in line with NEAR values and the ecosystem objectives.

The balance of powers between these governing bodies can be understood in the following manner:

CoA:

While the Council of Advisors sits in support of the HoM and maintains the ability to block a proposal or removal request, they are beholden to the HoM for the passage of proposals. Meanwhile, they are also beholden to the Transparency Commission insofar as they cannot remove members or investigate them.

HoM:

While the HoM has the ability to propose legislation proactively, they are beholden to the Council of Advisors and ongoing checks if poor leadership is repeated over time. In the same vein, they are also accountable to the Transparency Commission in terms of ethics and transparency of their role.

TC:

While the Transparency Commission commands the sole power of hearing complaints, investigating members of both the HoM and the CoA, and to either extend an investigation, retain a member after investigation, or remove that member as a result of the investigation. CoA has the ability to allow someone who has been removed from their post to run for future sessions, only after they have been removed.

All three institutions elect speakers at the beginning of each congress, and all institutions are required to meet weekly - with the HoM required to meet every 2 - 3 days.

As this system evolves, each governing body has the ability to both support and limit the actions of the adjacent governing bodies. In this manner, while the system will evolve every election cycle with new members, the system itself will retain its functionality.

Council of Advisors (CoA)