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Who decides, and how

The same questions, answered by one person, by everyone, or by people the members elected. None of them wrong — they are answering to different people.

A profile answers, for each of the 7 categories of decision: who decides it, by what method, at what threshold, with what turnout. One organization runs one profile.

The first question is the one that separates structures. In some, one person decides everything — a founder building in the open is entitled to that, provided everyone who joins is told, and the organization's page tells them. In others every member votes on everything. In between, members grant mandates for a term to delegates who run things day to day and answer for it at the next election; when a term lapses, the decisions come back to the members until they elect someone again.

None of this needs protecting from copying. Solon is open source: anyone who wants a different structure can take the whole thing, change it, and run their own. What keeps a structure honest is that it is stated plainly and that leaving is always possible.

Profiles are deliberately not a settings screen. A profile lives in code and ships through review, and an organization changing its own is a governance-rules decision taken under the profile it already has. The alternative is a constitution one administrator can quietly restructure between two votes.

One person decides

A founder or owner who keeps every decision, and says so plainly to everyone who joins.

The mandate holder — at founding, the founder alone — decides everything, including these rules. Members can propose; they do not vote.

Everyone decides

A town meeting, a network, any group where every member votes directly, with the bar raised for its own rules.

Every member votes on every decision.

Default

Elected delegates decide

Members who want someone to run things day to day, and to answer for it at the next election.

Delegates the members elected for a term decide money and operations. The members decide membership, safety and the rules, which is how they elect and recall. While no delegate holds a live mandate, the members decide everything.

Association (Verein)

A member association where the assembly is sovereign and the statutes are hard to change.

Every member votes on every decision.

Cooperative

A co-op where every member counts equally and turnout has to be real.

Every member votes on every decision.

Collective

A sociocratic group that moves on consent rather than counting heads.

Every member votes on every decision.

Company board

A board with weighted shareholdings that needs to decide quickly.

Every member votes on every decision.

Figure 6

The same questions, answered by each profile

Read a row to see how differently reasonable organizations treat one kind of decision. Read a column to see a whole constitution.

How each governance profile decides each category of question
CategoryOne person decidesA founder or owner who keeps every decision, and says so plainly to everyone who joins.Everyone decidesA town meeting, a network, any group where every member votes directly, with the bar raised for its own rules.Elected delegates decideMembers who want someone to run things day to day, and to answer for it at the next election.Association (Verein)A member association where the assembly is sovereign and the statutes are hard to change.CooperativeA co-op where every member counts equally and turnout has to be real.CollectiveA sociocratic group that moves on consent rather than counting heads.Company boardA board with weighted shareholdings that needs to decide quickly.
How money is sharedMandate holdersYes / no50% · 50% quorumAll membersYes / no50% · 50% quorumMandate holdersYes / no50% · 50% quorumAll membersDot allocation50% · 40% quorumAll membersDot allocation50% · 50% quorumAll membersDot allocation50% · 40% quorumAll membersScore50% · 30% quorum
Spending moneyMandate holdersYes / no50% · 50% quorumAll membersYes / no50% · 50% quorumMandate holdersYes / no50% · 50% quorumAll membersConsent50% · 40% quorumAll membersYes / no50% · 50% quorumAll membersConsent50% · 40% quorumAll membersYes / no50% · 30% quorum
Day-to-day runningMandate holdersYes / no50% · 50% quorumAll membersYes / no50% · 30% quorumMandate holdersYes / no50% · 50% quorumAll membersConsent50% · 25% quorumAll membersApproval50% · 40% quorumAll membersConsent50% · 25% quorumAll membersYes / no50% · 20% quorum
Help for a personMandate holdersYes / no50% · 50% quorumAll membersYes / no50% · 50% quorumMandate holdersYes / no50% · 50% quorumAll membersConsent50% · 40% quorumAll membersYes / no50% · 50% quorumAll membersConsent50% · 40% quorumAll membersYes / no50% · 30% quorum
Who is a memberMandate holdersYes / notwo thirds · 50% quorumAll membersYes / notwo thirds · 50% quorumAll membersYes / notwo thirds · 40% quorumAll membersYes / notwo thirds · 50% quorumAll membersYes / notwo thirds · 60% quorumAll membersConsent50% · 50% quorumAll membersYes / notwo thirds · 50% quorum
SafetyMandate holdersYes / notwo thirds · 50% quorumAll membersYes / notwo thirds · 50% quorumAll membersYes / notwo thirds · 50% quorumAll membersYes / notwo thirds · 50% quorumAll membersYes / notwo thirds · 60% quorumAll membersConsent50% · 50% quorumAll membersYes / notwo thirds · 50% quorum
The rulesMandate holdersYes / notwo thirds · 50% quorumAll membersYes / notwo thirds · 60% quorumAll membersYes / notwo thirds · 60% quorumAll membersYes / notwo thirds · 60% quorumAll membersYes / notwo thirds · 66% quorumAll membersConsent50% · 60% quorumAll membersYes / notwo thirds · 66% quorum

Computed by src/lib/config/governance-profiles.ts