Overview
Civitas Governance Guides is a free online guide that explains who decides changes to a blockchain network and how ordinary holders can take part. Readers learn which groups vote, how proposals move from submission to approval, and how to delegate, vote, or answer a survey with a connected wallet1. It suits ADA holders choosing a representative, as well as people who already hold a voting role and want step-by-step help.
The guides cover Cardano governance only and sit inside Civitas, a Cardano governance explorer (a website that tracks proposals and votes). Civitas describes its aim as making governance "legible, verifiable, and decision-useful"2. Its v1.1 release expanded Civitas Governance Guides with hands-on walkthroughs of the site's own tools3.
Key Features
- Who decides what. The guide explains the three groups that vote on Cardano changes: delegated representatives (DReps) chosen by ADA holders, stake pool operators who run the network, and the Constitutional Committee, an elected group that checks proposals against the rules1.
- Which approvals each proposal needs. A chapter lists the types of governance action (a formal on-chain proposal), such as treasury withdrawals and hard forks (network upgrades), and names the groups that must approve each one1.
- Walkthroughs for wallet tasks. Step-by-step pages cover delegating to a DRep, voting as a DRep, and registering as one, each done with a wallet connected to the Civitas site1.
- Help with on-chain surveys. Two chapters show how to create and answer community surveys recorded on Cardano, including sealed surveys whose answers stay hidden until a reveal time the creator picks1.
- Scoring formulas shown in the open. The How Scores Work chapter publishes the weighted formulas behind each Civitas Accountability Score, such as how much voting attendance and published reasoning count for a DRep1.
What to Expect
ADA holders new to governance can start with the opening chapters. These explain the Cardano Constitution, the rulebook that proposals are measured against, and the Net Change Limit, a cap on how much can leave the shared treasury in a given period1. Each topic sits in its own tab, so a reader can open one without working through the rest.
People who already hold a governance role get practical help. A DRep can follow numbered steps to register, cast a vote, and attach a rationale, a written explanation of the vote. Constitutional Committee members get a credential wizard with copy-and-paste command-line steps for setting up their voting keys1. Before someone delegates to a DRep that holds a large share of voting power, the walkthrough explains the warning Civitas shows and how to compare other options1.
Survey creators and respondents are covered too. The response walkthrough uses an answer form built to CIP-1791, a proposed Cardano standard for on-chain surveys and polls that lists Civitas Explorer as an implementer with surveys running on Cardano's live main network (mainnet)4. Researchers can use the Snapshot History section, which links to saved records of governance data at the end of each epoch (a roughly five-day period on Cardano)1.
Each walkthrough names the page on the Civitas site where the task is done, such as the DRep dashboard or the Actions page1. Intersect, a member organization for the Cardano community, has listed Civitas among the explorers people can use to follow governance votes as they happen5.
