Governance
The Dock Governance Framework describes the combination of off-chain and on-chain rules that enable the Dock Association (a Swiss non-profit) to manage the ongoing development of the network in conjunction with Dock token holders. In the short term, during the PoA network phases, the Association will assume significant control over the network and governance decisions. It will gradually transfer an increasing amount of voting power to Dock token holders over time and thus decentralize governance of the network in the process.
In the beginning, and in order to ensure the ongoing health of the network, the Dock Association may make changes to the network without inviting any proposals from token holders. As the network matures, token holders will be able to propose changes and vote on these proposals. The framework itself will evolve over time in a direction chosen by the Association and the token holders.
The network will start with Proof of Authority (PoA) consensus but as it transitions to Proof of Stake (expected during 2021) consensus a different governance mechanism will be used. Both PoA and PoS governance will first be launched on a testnet before migrating to a mainnet. The Dock development team aspires to minimize protocol changes between testnet and mainnet and the only significant difference should be the enhancement of tooling between the two networks.
When fully implemented the governance framework will manage:
Actors in the network and their eligibility criteria and tenure.
Configuration parameters.
Adding, removing or updating network functionality.
Introducing and/or changing rewards and punishments for different actors in the network.
Allocation of financial reserves of the network .i.e. the treasury.
