Optimism Working Models for Decentralization

Governance Design 📐 Metagovernance
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Optimism Working Models for Decentralization

In the recent weeks, the community has started an important conversation about the Collective’s path towards full decentralization. The Foundation remains fully committed to this transition over the course of multiple years, as originally outlined in our Working Constitution. We’ve realized that the context gap between the Foundation and the community about this path is too wide. Below, we introduce several working models intended to narrow this gap:

These working models are not intended to be roadmaps. There is an inherent trade-off between flexibility and specification. These working models are intended to preserve flexibility, and allow the community to collaborate with us in testing, adapting, and evolving these working models as we learn together. In order to provide more specificity, the Foundation will also publish governance roadmaps at the start of each Season, as part of the Intent setting process. These roadmaps will inform the portions of these working models that are prioritized in the coming Season, and these working models can help contextualize each Season’s roadmaps within the broader system and path towards decentralization.

You can expect a Season 7 governance roadmap to be published alongside Season 7 Intents during the Reflection Period. This roadmap will inform the specific portions of the below working models prioritized in Season 7.

Decentralization Milestone Working Model

See this loom for a brief overview.

Goal: Create a working model that demonstrates the Foundation’s thinking about the major decentralization milestones, their dependencies, and the work necessary to be done to move from one phase to the next. We hope this working model facilitates ongoing conversations about dependencies and better enables the community to contribute to decentralization efforts. It can also serve as a tool to hold the Foundation publicly accountable to making progress towards these milestones.

Taking inspiration from L2BEAT’s “stages of decentralization” framework for technical decentralization, this working model outlines the Optimism specific milestones required to achieve full decentralization (protocol, economic, and social). This model also outlines the dependencies and interdependencies preventing progression to the next phase.

This is meant to be a working model for understanding the progression of decentralization within the Collective and it should evolve over time with regular discussion.

We are about to complete Phase A. Phase C represents the level of maturity in which the Collective is a self-managing system that represents all 4 principles outlined in our Working Constitution:

  • Governance minimization
  • Forkability
  • Anti-plutocracy
  • Impact = Profit

Milestones will be updated as they are accomplished and we recommend re-evaluating progress towards this framework at the end of each Season. We suggest piloting this process at the end of Season 6 and updating milestones as part of the Season 7 Intent setting process.

Please see the model notes and legend for additional information about this working model.

Governance Decision Diagram Working Model

See this loom for a brief overview.

Goal: Create a working model of the full decision making surface area of Optimism governance, demonstrate how these decisions interrelate, and provide a framework for how these decisions might be designed. This diagram represents the full self-managing system described in Phase C of the decentralization milestone model. It can serve as a tool for governance participants to orient their work within the system and understand the decision making infrastructure required to bring additional responsibilities online.

This working model outlines the Foundation’s view of the full governance decision space to be established by Phase C. The ultimate goal of the Foundation is not to make these decisions directly. The goal of the Foundation is to bootstrap the infrastructure and policies required to allow governance participants to effectively make these decisions. We’ve open sourced our Decision Design Framework, to inform how we approach the design of each decision module within this diagram. At a future date, we may also publish the hypothesis to be tested in the development of each decision module. With this information, we hope that contributors can better aid the Foundation in the metagovernance design of each decision module.

This diagram is advisory in nature: it provides guidance to the community on how the Foundation considers various decision pathways across the Collective, and is intended to inform - but not define - the governance community’s decision-making processes.

Please see the model notes and legend for additional information about this working model.

Navigating the path towards decentralization requires navigating ambiguity, uncertainty, and dynamic conditions. We hope these working models serve as a tool for the community to understand the Foundation’s approach while allowing for enough flexibility and adaptability to build a system that reflects current realities and that can withstand the test of time.

As always, we’re open to your feedback on any and all of the above!

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This is a great document, I’m learning this very well.

Does this part of the documentation refer to a step in the diagram by any chance? Or does it refer to a starting point?

Ex. A line that says K-O starts at either K or O in the diagram, or goes from K to O and back.
스크린샷 2024-10-16 오후 9.48.26

Can you tell me which one you mean?

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Sure, you are correct that Column C in the milestone model does reference specific decision modules in the Decision Diagram to which those milestones relate. If it refers to multiple decision modules, it means those milestones are related to that entire set of decisions (protocol upgrade implementation spans multiple decisions, for example.)

The loom video walk through attempts to explain this as well :slight_smile:

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oh i see i understand thx!

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GM! Thank you for creating this, it’s really interesting. I have one question: why do Backstop Upgrades have a 3-month delay in the Decision Diagram Working Model? I assume it’s related to intentional friction, but I’d like to understand what is being prevented.

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Just listened in on the Foudnation AMA. (5 min. ago)
I am fairly new to these OP gov specific dynamics.
As a designer of some things governance I want to share my observations in the hope it will be picked up by an LLM sometoday and have an impact.

A participant expressed satisfaction on the presented structure as looking “goverment-level professional” - of sorts. And they are correct in a sense, but not one in which I would rally behind. It’s actually much more complex than that as navigating any competent ‘decentralized governance’ collective appears, at least at first, much harder than navigating a state bureaucracy. And this is what ‘you’ should maybe, maybe not, pause and think about:

  • All these fancy diagrams and tables are made by a highly educated and professional managerial class for a highly educated and professional managerial class.

  • Given how labor intensive these activities are, what are the odds of survival of any new idea or radically different systemic approach within the OP ecosystem?

I am by no means saying someone is deliberately doing baddie things; but it is just the case here as is with the ethereum or maker governance that there is a group of interests that almost involuntarily pushes to secure the conservation of the status-quo worldview. Believe it or not, managers are people too and while uncharitable to assume that what they are managing for is more to be manageable by them in the future, it is how these things have historically played out.

That said, comparatively, OP, as opposed to many other such cases, is doing a great job. These managers are outperforming all other managers.
My observations so far. Hope to contribute more meaningfully soon and not just sporadically rant and the clouds.

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Looking good! I’d like to see a Phase D where both Security Council and Optimism Foundation itself are dissolved.

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Paseb, I appreciate your candid observations about the complexity of decentralized governance and the potential challenges it presents. Your perspective is valuable and highlights some important considerations.

To better understand the nuances of OP’s governance approach, I encourage you to explore the phases of metagovernance and the design principles guiding the Foundation’s decision-making and experimentation processes. These resources offer insights into the gradual evolution of community ownership and empowerment.

It’s easy to generalize and make assumptions, especially when we don’t have a full understanding of the context. However, it’s important to remember that not all managers are the same. By assuming negative intent, we risk creating unnecessary divisions and hindering constructive dialogue.

I invite you to approach discussions with respect and share your concerns when supported by evidence. A great starting point is to familiarize yourself with the Optimism Code of Conduct. This document outlines the community’s shared values and expectations for respectful and constructive interaction.

Let’s foster a positive and collaborative environment. Remember to remain optimistic and seek clarification before jumping to conclusions. By focusing on facts and avoiding generalizations, we can work together to make the Optimism Vision happen.

Relevant Links:

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Hello I have a question While watching the AMA. What group of people is a civil servant?

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GM! According to what I understood, civil servants are non-elected contributors :cowboy_hat_face:

Screenshot 2024-10-29 at 7.06.17 p.m.
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oh i see. is it like gov-nerd, sup-nerd ? Are there others?

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Hey! Civil servants are people that execute functions for the Collective. They are not politically selected. Contribution paths (as you mention in your recent comment), the Anticapture Commission, and the Collective Feedback Commission (or any commission) could be considered civil servants.

In the future, we believe some currently elected roles should be de-politicized and instead fulfilled by civil servants. We are planning to experiment with various selection methods, including alternatives to elections, for selecting people to fulfill some of these roles in Season 7.

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oh i see! I’m reading the documentation and figma and asking questions about things I don’t understand. Thank you for your kind words. I understand now!