{"id":193973,"date":"2023-09-21T19:43:10","date_gmt":"2023-09-21T19:43:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/tokenstalk.info\/?p=193973"},"modified":"2023-09-21T19:43:10","modified_gmt":"2023-09-21T19:43:10","slug":"a16z-suggests-machiavelli-to-fix-decentralized-governance","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/tokenstalk.info\/crypto\/a16z-suggests-machiavelli-to-fix-decentralized-governance\/","title":{"rendered":"a16z suggests Machiavelli to fix decentralized governance"},"content":{"rendered":"

Principles written almost 500 years ago by Niccol\u00f2 Machiavelli \u2014 author of the controversial political work The Prince<\/em>\u00a0\u2014 are the solution to solving decentralized governance issues in autonomous organizations, according to a blog post by venture capital firm Andreessen Horowitz (a16z).\u00a0<\/p>\n

The piece is signed by a16z\u2019s general counsel and head of decentralization, Miles Jennings, who believes that \u201capplying Machiavellian principles to decentralized governance in web3 can address current shortcomings.\u201d According to Jennings, Machiavelli\u2019s philosophy has a pragmatic understanding of struggles of social power, which are similar to those experienced by crypto protocols and their decentralized autonomous organizations (DAOs).<\/p>\n

Considered the father of modern political theory, Machiavelli was an Italian political philosopher and diplomat. In The Prince<\/em>, he presents fundamental concepts about social power and argues that the ends \u2014 particularly the stability of the state \u2014 can justify the means, even if those means are ruthless. <\/p>\n

Jennings uses Machiavelli\u2019s work to discuss how to avoid power centralization. The first concept discussed in the piece relates to the idea that organizations tend toward autocratic leadership, therefore demanding DAOs limit governance by shifting many decisions to the client or third-party layer. According to Jennings:<\/p>\n

\u201c[Governance minimization] could substantially limit the number of decisions required to pass through the decentralized governance process \u2014 significantly lowering the governance burden for the protocol.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Further, the second principle notes that it\u2019s critical for DAOs to counterbalance power among leadership classes, leaving emerging leaders exposed to open opposition. He suggests DAOs operate with a bicameral governance layer, just as in the United States Congress, which is divided into the House of Representatives and the Senate.<\/p>\n

Using non-token-based voting systems, like proof-of-personhood, does not help DAOs combat autocracy, suggests Jennings. \u201cWhile proof of personhood could mitigate a DAO\u2019s vulnerability to attack, it would be unlikely to eliminate autocracy.\u201d<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

The third principle says DAOs should not only have constant opposition but allow new leaders to force their way into the leadership class by creating a churn, preventing a static power balance. \u201cAccording to the Machiavellians this churn must be forced, as the leadership class will always push against it in order to preserve their position and privilege.\u201d<\/p>\n

Jennings further notes that community members are often limited in their ability to acquire power in token-based voting systems, given the financial barriers to obtaining such power. <\/p>\n

Finally, in the fourth principle, Jennings suggests DAOs adopt lockup mechanisms for holders participating in stakeholder councils. \u201cIf large groups of people are indeed inherently unable to properly hold their leaders accountable (as the Machiavellians predict), DAOs should seek to implement measures that enhance greater accountability throughout their ecosystems,\u201d reads the document. Jennings notes as a conclusion: <\/p>\n

\u201cWeb3 should triumph over web2 through decentralization, which reduces censorship and promotes liberty, which in turn enables opposition to power, and therefore drives greater progress. By incentivizing competition, empowering rivals, and utilizing non-token based voting, DAOs can help accelerate this cycle.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Magazine:\u00a0<\/em><\/strong>Are DAOs overhyped and unworkable? Lessons from the front lines<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

Source: Read Full Article<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Principles written almost 500 years ago by Niccol\u00f2 Machiavelli \u2014 author of the controversial political…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":193972,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"\na16z suggests Machiavelli to fix decentralized governance - Tokens Talk<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/tokenstalk.info\/crypto\/a16z-suggests-machiavelli-to-fix-decentralized-governance\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"a16z suggests Machiavelli to fix decentralized governance - Tokens Talk\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Principles written almost 500 years ago by Niccol\u00f2 Machiavelli \u2014 author of the controversial political...\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/tokenstalk.info\/crypto\/a16z-suggests-machiavelli-to-fix-decentralized-governance\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Tokens Talk\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2023-09-21T19:43:10+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"mediabest\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:image\" content=\"https:\/\/tokenstalk.info\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/09\/a16z-suggests-Machiavelli-to-fix-decentralized-governance.jpg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"mediabest\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/tokenstalk.info\/crypto\/a16z-suggests-machiavelli-to-fix-decentralized-governance\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/tokenstalk.info\/crypto\/a16z-suggests-machiavelli-to-fix-decentralized-governance\/\",\"name\":\"a16z suggests Machiavelli to fix decentralized governance - Tokens Talk\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/tokenstalk.info\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2023-09-21T19:43:10+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2023-09-21T19:43:10+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/tokenstalk.info\/#\/schema\/person\/6f5c93d641f4dc4ea25a3807d041e4ab\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/tokenstalk.info\/crypto\/a16z-suggests-machiavelli-to-fix-decentralized-governance\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/tokenstalk.info\/crypto\/a16z-suggests-machiavelli-to-fix-decentralized-governance\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/tokenstalk.info\/crypto\/a16z-suggests-machiavelli-to-fix-decentralized-governance\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/tokenstalk.info\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"a16z suggests Machiavelli to fix decentralized governance\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/tokenstalk.info\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/tokenstalk.info\/\",\"name\":\"Tokens Talk\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/tokenstalk.info\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/tokenstalk.info\/#\/schema\/person\/6f5c93d641f4dc4ea25a3807d041e4ab\",\"name\":\"mediabest\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/tokenstalk.info\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/f5f13cb3b94fc348d515c0951f6ca073?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/f5f13cb3b94fc348d515c0951f6ca073?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"mediabest\"}}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"a16z suggests Machiavelli to fix decentralized governance - Tokens Talk","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/tokenstalk.info\/crypto\/a16z-suggests-machiavelli-to-fix-decentralized-governance\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"a16z suggests Machiavelli to fix decentralized governance - Tokens Talk","og_description":"Principles written almost 500 years ago by Niccol\u00f2 Machiavelli \u2014 author of the controversial political...","og_url":"https:\/\/tokenstalk.info\/crypto\/a16z-suggests-machiavelli-to-fix-decentralized-governance\/","og_site_name":"Tokens Talk","article_published_time":"2023-09-21T19:43:10+00:00","author":"mediabest","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_image":"https:\/\/tokenstalk.info\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/09\/a16z-suggests-Machiavelli-to-fix-decentralized-governance.jpg","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"mediabest","Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/tokenstalk.info\/crypto\/a16z-suggests-machiavelli-to-fix-decentralized-governance\/","url":"https:\/\/tokenstalk.info\/crypto\/a16z-suggests-machiavelli-to-fix-decentralized-governance\/","name":"a16z suggests Machiavelli to fix decentralized governance - Tokens Talk","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/tokenstalk.info\/#website"},"datePublished":"2023-09-21T19:43:10+00:00","dateModified":"2023-09-21T19:43:10+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/tokenstalk.info\/#\/schema\/person\/6f5c93d641f4dc4ea25a3807d041e4ab"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/tokenstalk.info\/crypto\/a16z-suggests-machiavelli-to-fix-decentralized-governance\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/tokenstalk.info\/crypto\/a16z-suggests-machiavelli-to-fix-decentralized-governance\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/tokenstalk.info\/crypto\/a16z-suggests-machiavelli-to-fix-decentralized-governance\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/tokenstalk.info\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"a16z suggests Machiavelli to fix decentralized governance"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/tokenstalk.info\/#website","url":"https:\/\/tokenstalk.info\/","name":"Tokens Talk","description":"","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/tokenstalk.info\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/tokenstalk.info\/#\/schema\/person\/6f5c93d641f4dc4ea25a3807d041e4ab","name":"mediabest","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/tokenstalk.info\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/f5f13cb3b94fc348d515c0951f6ca073?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/f5f13cb3b94fc348d515c0951f6ca073?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"mediabest"}}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/tokenstalk.info\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/193973"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/tokenstalk.info\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/tokenstalk.info\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tokenstalk.info\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tokenstalk.info\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=193973"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/tokenstalk.info\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/193973\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tokenstalk.info\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/193972"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/tokenstalk.info\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=193973"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tokenstalk.info\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=193973"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tokenstalk.info\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=193973"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}