github.com/fibonacci-chain/fbc@v0.0.0-20231124064014-c7636198c1e9/libs/cosmos-sdk/x/gov/spec/01_concepts.md (about) 1 <!-- 2 order: 1 3 --> 4 5 # Concepts 6 7 *Disclaimer: This is work in progress. Mechanisms are susceptible to change.* 8 9 The governance process is divided in a few steps that are outlined below: 10 11 * **Proposal submission:** Proposal is submitted to the blockchain with a 12 deposit. 13 * **Vote:** Once deposit reaches a certain value (`MinDeposit`), proposal is 14 confirmed and vote opens. Bonded Atom holders can then send `TxGovVote` 15 transactions to vote on the proposal. 16 * If the proposal involves a software upgrade: 17 * **Signal:** Validators start signaling that they are ready to switch to the 18 new version. 19 * **Switch:** Once more than 75% of validators have signaled that they are 20 ready to switch, their software automatically flips to the new version. 21 22 ## Proposal submission 23 24 ### Right to submit a proposal 25 26 Any Atom holder, whether bonded or unbonded, can submit proposals by sending a 27 `TxGovProposal` transaction. Once a proposal is submitted, it is identified by 28 its unique `proposalID`. 29 30 ### Proposal types 31 32 In the initial version of the governance module, there are two types of 33 proposal: 34 * `PlainTextProposal` All the proposals that do not involve a modification of 35 the source code go under this type. For example, an opinion poll would use a 36 proposal of type `PlainTextProposal`. 37 * `SoftwareUpgradeProposal`. If accepted, validators are expected to update 38 their software in accordance with the proposal. They must do so by following 39 a 2-steps process described in the [Software Upgrade](#software-upgrade) 40 section below. Software upgrade roadmap may be discussed and agreed on via 41 `PlainTextProposals`, but actual software upgrades must be performed via 42 `SoftwareUpgradeProposals`. 43 44 Other modules may expand upon the governance module by implementing their own 45 proposal types and handlers. These types are registered and processed through the 46 governance module (eg. `ParamChangeProposal`), which then execute the respective 47 module's proposal handler when a proposal passes. This custom handler may perform 48 arbitrary state changes. 49 50 ## Deposit 51 52 To prevent spam, proposals must be submitted with a deposit in the coins defined in the `MinDeposit` param. The voting period will not start until the proposal's deposit equals `MinDeposit`. 53 54 When a proposal is submitted, it has to be accompanied by a deposit that must be strictly positive, but can be inferior to `MinDeposit`. The submitter doesn't need to pay for the entire deposit on their own. If a proposal's deposit is inferior to `MinDeposit`, other token holders can increase the proposal's deposit by sending a `Deposit` transaction. The deposit is kept in an escrow in the governance `ModuleAccount` until the proposal is finalized (passed or rejected). 55 56 Once the proposal's deposit reaches `MinDeposit`, it enters voting period. If proposal's deposit does not reach `MinDeposit` before `MaxDepositPeriod`, proposal closes and nobody can deposit on it anymore. 57 58 ### Deposit refund and burn 59 60 When a the a proposal finalized, the coins from the deposit are either refunded or burned, according to the final tally of the proposal: 61 62 * If the proposal is approved or if it's rejected but _not_ vetoed, deposits will automatically be refunded to their respective depositor (transferred from the governance `ModuleAccount`). 63 * When the proposal is vetoed with a supermajority, deposits be burned from the governance `ModuleAccount`. 64 65 ## Vote 66 67 ### Participants 68 69 *Participants* are users that have the right to vote on proposals. On the 70 Cosmos Hub, participants are bonded Atom holders. Unbonded Atom holders and 71 other users do not get the right to participate in governance. However, they 72 can submit and deposit on proposals. 73 74 Note that some *participants* can be forbidden to vote on a proposal under a 75 certain validator if: 76 * *participant* bonded or unbonded Atoms to said validator after proposal 77 entered voting period. 78 * *participant* became validator after proposal entered voting period. 79 80 This does not prevent *participant* to vote with Atoms bonded to other 81 validators. For example, if a *participant* bonded some Atoms to validator A 82 before a proposal entered voting period and other Atoms to validator B after 83 proposal entered voting period, only the vote under validator B will be 84 forbidden. 85 86 ### Voting period 87 88 Once a proposal reaches `MinDeposit`, it immediately enters `Voting period`. We 89 define `Voting period` as the interval between the moment the vote opens and 90 the moment the vote closes. `Voting period` should always be shorter than 91 `Unbonding period` to prevent double voting. The initial value of 92 `Voting period` is 2 weeks. 93 94 ### Option set 95 96 The option set of a proposal refers to the set of choices a participant can 97 choose from when casting its vote. 98 99 The initial option set includes the following options: 100 - `Yes` 101 - `No` 102 - `NoWithVeto` 103 - `Abstain` 104 105 `NoWithVeto` counts as `No` but also adds a `Veto` vote. `Abstain` option 106 allows voters to signal that they do not intend to vote in favor or against the 107 proposal but accept the result of the vote. 108 109 *Note: from the UI, for urgent proposals we should maybe add a ‘Not Urgent’ 110 option that casts a `NoWithVeto` vote.* 111 112 ### Quorum 113 114 Quorum is defined as the minimum percentage of voting power that needs to be 115 casted on a proposal for the result to be valid. 116 117 ### Threshold 118 119 Threshold is defined as the minimum proportion of `Yes` votes (excluding 120 `Abstain` votes) for the proposal to be accepted. 121 122 Initially, the threshold is set at 50% with a possibility to veto if more than 123 1/3rd of votes (excluding `Abstain` votes) are `NoWithVeto` votes. This means 124 that proposals are accepted if the proportion of `Yes` votes (excluding 125 `Abstain` votes) at the end of the voting period is superior to 50% and if the 126 proportion of `NoWithVeto` votes is inferior to 1/3 (excluding `Abstain` 127 votes). 128 129 Proposals can be accepted before the end of the voting period if they meet a special condition. Namely, if the ratio of `Yes` votes to `InitTotalVotingPower`exceeds 2:3, the proposal will be immediately accepted, even if the `Voting period` is not finished. `InitTotalVotingPower` is the total voting power of all bonded Atom holders at the moment when the vote opens. 130 This condition exists so that the network can react quickly in case of urgency. 131 132 ### Inheritance 133 134 If a delegator does not vote, it will inherit its validator vote. 135 136 * If the delegator votes before its validator, it will not inherit from the 137 validator's vote. 138 * If the delegator votes after its validator, it will override its validator 139 vote with its own. If the proposal is urgent, it is possible 140 that the vote will close before delegators have a chance to react and 141 override their validator's vote. This is not a problem, as proposals require more than 2/3rd of the total voting power to pass before the end of the voting period. If more than 2/3rd of validators collude, they can censor the votes of delegators anyway. 142 143 ### Validator’s punishment for non-voting 144 145 At present, validators are not punished for failing to vote. 146 147 ### Governance address 148 149 Later, we may add permissioned keys that could only sign txs from certain modules. For the MVP, the `Governance address` will be the main validator address generated at account creation. This address corresponds to a different PrivKey than the Tendermint PrivKey which is responsible for signing consensus messages. Validators thus do not have to sign governance transactions with the sensitive Tendermint PrivKey. 150 151 ## Software Upgrade 152 153 If proposals are of type `SoftwareUpgradeProposal`, then nodes need to upgrade 154 their software to the new version that was voted. This process is divided in 155 two steps. 156 157 ### Signal 158 159 After a `SoftwareUpgradeProposal` is accepted, validators are expected to 160 download and install the new version of the software while continuing to run 161 the previous version. Once a validator has downloaded and installed the 162 upgrade, it will start signaling to the network that it is ready to switch by 163 including the proposal's `proposalID` in its *precommits*.(*Note: Confirmation 164 that we want it in the precommit?*) 165 166 Note: There is only one signal slot per *precommit*. If several 167 `SoftwareUpgradeProposals` are accepted in a short timeframe, a pipeline will 168 form and they will be implemented one after the other in the order that they 169 were accepted. 170 171 ### Switch 172 173 Once a block contains more than 2/3rd *precommits* where a common 174 `SoftwareUpgradeProposal` is signaled, all the nodes (including validator 175 nodes, non-validating full nodes and light-nodes) are expected to switch to the 176 new version of the software. 177 178 *Note: Not clear how the flip is handled programmatically*