DAO Governance: The Continuation of Decentralized Power and Social Experiment

In the cryptocurrency space, DAO governance is a highly regarded concept. To deeply understand DAO governance, we first need to review the evolution of governance in the real world.

The Concept of Governance Origin

Governance( is a term that originates from classical Latin, meaning to control, guide, and manipulate, referring to the exercise of authority within a specific scope. It involves reaching consensus or gaining recognition in areas where different interests coexist, in order to implement a certain plan. Initially, governance was primarily a tool of government used to regulate governmental behavior.

In the 1990s, with the rise of various social autonomous organizations and their increasing influence on public life, the theoretical community began to re-examine the relationship between government and market, as well as between government and society. During this period, the field of public management gradually developed, and the concept of governance began to enter the public's view.

The Historical Evolution of Power Decentralization

The concept of governance did not originate from a foundation of equality among all, but is closely related to control and manipulation. The rise of public administration has brought governance into the lives of ordinary people, but this process has only a history of just over a hundred years. Prior to this, governance had no direct connection with the vast majority of ordinary people.

) The Dominator of Power

In primitive society, although men had advantages in hunting, the gathering activities carried out by women were the main source of food. At the same time, in an era with high maternal mortality rates, women, as important reproductive resources, formed what is known as a "matriarchal society."

After entering the agricultural civilization, labor that requires physical strength became the main mode of production, and the advantages of men gradually became prominent, leading to the formation of a patriarchal society. With social development, from tribes to states, and then to the establishment of global organizations, war became another key factor for men to gain overwhelming power. A small number of "elite men" became nobles and kings, controlling most of the means of production and reproductive resources.

In the era of elite centralization, only a few privileged classes control the world. Whether it is the Western democratic tradition or the Eastern centralization, ordinary people are the subjects of governance and have no direct involvement in the governance process. Those who control more means of production have absolute dominance.

decentralization of power

The arrival of the industrial era, especially the information age, has made intellectual activities increasingly important. Since the emergence of various progressive ideologies a hundred years ago, human society has begun to release the rights and thoughts of everyone on a large scale. Ordinary people can participate in the subjects they wish to govern through their wisdom and abilities, which is an important advancement in terms of equality in governance.

The decentralization of power means the release of governance rights, allowing more people to enjoy governance authority when facing a subject, which is a progress in the thought and practice of a civilized society.

DAO Governance: The Continuation of Power Decentralization

Back to the blockchain world, we must recognize that blockchain is a creation of humanity and will inevitably carry over certain traits of the real world. With just over a decade of history, we need to view the phenomena derived from blockchain from a macro perspective of human society.

The emergence of DAO is a new social model experiment that achieves the decentralization of power through technological development, continuing the trend of power decentralization. At the same time, as an emerging entity, it will also replicate the governance processes of the real world, where those who hold more means of production gradually decentralize power, giving every ordinary person the opportunity to gain governance rights.

Blockchain has inherent financial and governance attributes. Tokens not only capture the value of the protocol but can also be used for governance voting. If a blockchain project grants voting rights to its project tokens, it is equivalent to each Token representing a share of authority. Unlike company equity, blockchain Tokens are more free and easier to circulate, reflecting a further release of power, which was also the initial vision at the birth of DAO.

While decentralization of power can gather more ideas and create more collisions, it also increases the difficulty of formulating and implementing governance rules. However, if sufficiently decentralized power can be brought together to achieve common goals, despite the challenging process, this cohesive consensus power will inevitably create disruptive events.

DAO is precisely pursuing this cohesive power, dispersing the authority held by those who control the means of production, then reuniting to achieve significant breakthroughs, and then dispersing again, and reuniting, thus cycling.

Conclusion

Currently, research on DAO governance is mainly focused on the cryptocurrency field, still in its early stages and facing many issues. There have not been significant breakthroughs in decentralization. However, this social experiment is long-term. From a historical perspective, the extent to which our generation can develop DAO and how much valuable information we can provide to the real world depends on our patience and determination. DAO governance is not an outcome, but a continuous process.