The Role Of Blockchain In Decentralized Governance Models

INTRODUCTION

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Decentralized governance models basically refers to a system of governance that is decentralized and if you don't what decentralized means, for the purpose of this post one can simply say that decentralized is the opposite of centralized, that it refers to the act of distributing control and authority across multiple parties so no one single party has majority control.

This therefore simply means that in a decentralized governance model that the process of governing and the power to do so like the power to make decisions and create laws and guidelines and stating how they are enforced is distributed among multiple participants, the authority or control decentralized is not rather than centralized.

The blockchain technology also plays a very important and critical role in enabling the proper and effective functioning, implementation and application of this governance structures or models how? Well join me in this post of mine as I will be explaining and discussing some of the many significant roles that the blockchain and its technology and advanced features play in decentralized governance models.

• ENSURING TRANSPARENCY AND TRUST

One of the significant roles in which the blockchain is able to play in a decentralized governance model or structure basically because of its advanced technology and features is ensuring and facilitating transparency among all users and participants it does this by using its advanced tamper proof and immutable ledger to record every transaction, activity and decision.

However this transparency is not offered, available or even facilitated In the traditional governance models and structures, basically because of their centralized nature and lack of a secure digital mechanism for recording and storing information it therefore is unable to offer visibility and transparency in the decision making process.

This could lead to lack or erosion of trust, manipulation and corruption but because of the role the blockchain takes up and plays all this can be addressed, mitigated and eliminated seeing with the decentralized governance model all these issues are eliminated through the provision of transparency this transparency in turn over time Will encourage increased participation.

• FACILITATING VOTING CONSENSUS MECHANISM

Another significant role that the blockchain technology is playing in facilitating the decentralized governance model and structure is basically enabling and facilitating a means of voting, a voting mechanism that is secure and impossible to manipulate this way the participants in the decentralized governance models can be sure that not only do they have the opportunity to vote on decisions but also that their votes count.

Additionally, unlike other traditional voting tools or mechanisms which are vulnerable to manipulation and rigging as a result of its centralization, I mean even our very own INEC has a reputation of its voting results being rigged and manipulated but the blockchain based voting mechanism ensures that each vote is securely recorded, immutable, and traceable, making it difficult for any participant to manipulate or rig the results.

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Also, seeing as the blockchain networks often uses smart contracts this means that the in the decentralized governance model, when implementing the blockchain, the smart contract will be able to automate voting processes as a result reducing human participation in the recording process making it faster, more efficient and less prone to errors or manipulation.

• AUTOMATING GOVERNANCE THROUGH SMART CONTRACTS

Now to properly talk about smart contracts being the way in which the blockchain plays the role of facilitating and supporting the decentralized governance model, the smart contracts are basically self executing contracts this means they are codes pre-programmed into the blockchain to execute it self or to run when certain pre-determined terms and conditions are successfully met.

Therefore in blockchain based mechanisms or applications implemented and applied in the decentralized governance models, the smart contract if implemented also is able to enforce rules without needing or requiring any human intervention or supervision, the process will be totally automatic, therefore no risk of corruption or even favouritism and bias.

For example, in decentralized autonomous organizations DAO can make use of smart contracts to release funds automatically once a proposal or line of action is voted on and approved by the participants and users of the organization this basically makes sure that the process of governance and decisions making are executed promptly and according to the agreed upon rules.

• ENABLING TOKEN BASED GOVERNANCE

Lastly, the blockchain technology basically enables and facilitates token based governance models, in this type of governance structure and model where the governing process that is mainly the process or authority and power to make decision is based and dependent or proportional to the number of tokens in which the particular user and participant holds or has in the network, one can say that the steemit platform operates on this type of governance model and structure.

Additionally in these type of governance models or structures the tokens represents the user or participant voting rights, and token holders have the authority to make decisions, make proposals or vote on changes to protocols or regulations and guidelines in the platform and community.

Also token based governance models gives their users and participants a direct stake in the system’s success these therefore serves as an incentive to encourage users and participants to make effort and to contribute positively to the platform or ecosystem, these incentives or reward can also come in the form of appreciation in token price and value however this token based governance can easily prone to centralization.

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CONCLUSION

In conclusion, let me use this opportunity seeing as I would like to say a very big thank to everyone who made the effort to read and go through this post which I have made, and I hope that you have been able to learn something new as I have explained and discussed four of the significant role in which the blockchain has to play in decentralized governance model.