The Effect DAO: The Constitution

Chris | Effect.AI

Published in

Effect Network

6 min readAug 24, 2020

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Chapter #2

The Effect Network, in the vision of the Whitepaper is not only a homestead for accessible algorithms and services, nor a new type of democratic system for global participation or is it just some software platforms to give opportunities of inclusion to those regardless of what they look like, where they live, how they worship, who they love or how much money they may have. The Effect Network is intended to be all the above and so much more.

There are elements of the network not yet imagined that we feel will see the light of day decades from now. There are parts of the network that are theoretical and still need help and support to be realized. And since the concept of TEN was proposed through a poorly written and illustrated document by Chris Dawe in August of 2017 and proposed to Jesse Eisses and Laurens Verspeek we have seen amazing technological and human influences created, built, and alive in The Effect Network today. But very little has had or will have more impact on Effect than the launch and continuous development of the DAO. What we do over the course of the next weeks and months with setting up the foundational layers of the Effect DAO will echo throughout generations to come. And Satoshi willing, we will see The Effect Network grow into the global, open, democratic decentralized network for Artificial Intelligence it’s meant to be.

To align the motives, incentives, and participation in this new chapter of TEN we need to be sure that the fundamental principles, rules, values, rights, and authorities are well-structured, written, and available for those who wish to be part of this Decentralized Autonomous Organization. We do this through a Constitution.

Constitutions can declare and define the boundaries of a political or project community. When researching the core attributes of a constitution, you will find examples of how constitutions are applied to traditional governments and countries. There is less to research in the application of constitutions for smaller organizations and even less when you look for how to apply a constitution to a DAO. But the philosophy remains the same for all examples where a constitution can be in place.

Reasons why a constitution exists within governance models.

Even the best constitution cannot plant a forest or build a library; it cannot manage a shop or administer payroll; it cannot educate a child or take care of an elderly person. Despite these obvious limitations, the inception of constitutions is one of the highest triumphs of human civilization. Countries that have succeeded in establishing and maintaining constitutional government have usually been at the forefront of scientific and technological progress, economic power, cultural development, and human well-being. In contrast, those states that have consistently failed to maintain constitutional government have often fallen short of their development potential.

I think the best way to imagine the power of a constitution is to tell a story of a good old football match (Soccer for us North Americans).

Imagine two teams playing a game of football. If the team in possession of the ball could change the rules of the game and appoint its own referee, then the game would hardly be fair. One team would always win, and the other would lose — or simply stop playing. This is like political life without a democratic constitutional order. The party, faction, or group in power makes up the rules, and those in opposition are excluded from a game that is rigged against them. A democratic constitutional order acts like the rules of the game, and its guardians — for example, a constitutional court — are like the referee. They make sure that everyone can play the ‘game’ fairly.

A few examples of what can be included in a constitution.

Constitutions can:

Declare and define the nature and authority of the community.
Express the identity and values of a community.
Declare and define the rights and duties of members of the community.
Constitutions can commit assets and funds to particular social, economic, or developmental goals.
Establish and regulate the political institutions of the community — defining the various institutions of government; prescribing their composition, powers, and functions; and regulating the relations between them.

What will be found within the Effect DAO constitution?

Although the Effect DAO Constitution will not be published in this chapter we wanted to highlight some key repetitive terminologies and language that will be present within the document. This should give the community lots to speculate on and debate what might be within this historic document. And believe us when we say that we will be listening closely to all the gossip and potentially adding or subtracting to the Phase 0 Constitution of the Effect DAO based on your feedback and comments.

A handful of terms to know:

Registration: the process in which one, in accordance with the Constitution, can register as a member (Guardians of the Galaxy Pool or High Guards) through the signing of the Effect DAO constitution and agree to its law and governance structure and by way of agreement to the basic participation requirements…

Blockchain: means a consensus of replicated, shared and synchronized digital data geographically spread across multiple sites, countries, and institutions…

Constitution: Means this document in its entirety or as amended official and current to which agreed upon by the members of the Effect DAO…

Guardian: means a voting representative of the Effect DAO…

High Guard: means a member of a higher council to deliberate and vote where additional topics must be debated.

Genesis Guard: means a founding member of Effect.AI who has pledged the secret oath…

Proposal System: means the system where any global citizens can propose initiatives to the Effect DAO.

DAO: the acronym DAO in Effect DAO means the Decentralized Autonomous Organization of Members governed by and administered in accordance with the terms and conditions of the Constitution…

EFX: means the cryptographic token that acts as one part of the acceptance criteria to become a Guardian or High Guard of the Effect DAO…

NFX: The one Token to rule them all… (may not be the exact legal definition in the actual Constitution upon release)

dApp: means a decentralized application running on a Blockchain

Stake(ing): when used in reference to the Effect DAO, tokens refer to the mechanism by which EFX and or NFX tokens are rendered nontransferable by the holder thereof in the Effect Token Staking Protocol 2.0…

Person: means an individual, a corporation, a trust, the estate of a deceased individual, a partnership, or an unincorporated association of persons…

Terms & Conditions: means the terms and conditions relating to the Effect DAO and the EFX Token and the NFX Tokens, attached to the Schedule to this Constitution and incorporated into this Constitution and from time to time

There are a few of the important terms and subject matter you will find within the Effect DAO Constitution.

The first release of the Constitution will be live just prior to launching Phase 0 and is a placeholder for Phase 1. Phase 1 of the Effect DAO will launch January 1st 2021 and will incorporate a new version of the Effect DAO Constitution and new technical features never seen before.

A Look Ahead

Up next in this series is the most exciting for us to release. Chapter #3 of this blog series is called Guardians of the Galaxy Pool and will cover a huge amount of the details you all really want and need to know. Some subjects in this one include the roles and responsibilities of a Guardian, a look at the High Guard structure, and last but not least the staking requirements of EFX and NFX to be a Guardian of the Galaxy Pool and becoming a member of the Effect DAO.

If you are interested in buying EFX please go to Bidesk cryptocurrency exchange.

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