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Participate in Council

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To simplify, the illustrations in this tutorial are based on the local development network. Most of the key factors have been adjusted to align with the documentation objective. This tutorial can also be applied to the production network.

Overview

The Council is a group of on-chain accounts that are elected to represent the passive stakeholders of the Darwinia network. The council has two main responsibilities in governance: proposing referenda and vetoing dangerous or malicious referenda.
This guide will provide step-by-step instructions on how to apply to become a council member and how to actively participate in the governance process.

Important Parameters

The important parameters to be aware of when voting using the Council module are as follows:
  • DesiredMembers - Number of members to elect.
  • MotionDuration - The time-out for council motions.
  • CandidacyBond - How much should be locked up in order to submit one's candidacy.
  • TermDuration - How long each seat is kept.

Parameters In The Networks

Darwinia
Crab
Pangolin Testnet
Pangoro Testnet
DesiredMembers
7
7
7
7
MotionDuration
7 days
3 days
10 mins
10 mins
CandidacyBond
100 * MILLIUNIT
100 * MILLIUNIT
100 * MILLIUNIT
100 * MILLIUNIT
TermDuration
1 day
7 days
10 mins
10 mins

Join The Council

  1. Submit Candidacy
    1. It is recommended to announce your intention to run for the council before submitting your candidacy. This way, your supporters will be aware of when they can start voting for you. Additionally, you have the option to vote for yourself in case there are no other votes cast for your candidacy.
      Go to Polkadot apps dashboard and navigate to the Governance > Council tab. Click the button on the right that says Submit Candidacy
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      To submit your candidacy for the council, you need to provide a small bond of tokens. If your candidacy is not successful, the bond will be forfeited. However, you can reclaim your bond by manually renouncing your candidacy before it is lost.
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      After making the transaction, you will notice that your account appears under the Candidates row. In this example, we are setting up 3 candidates for the tutorial.
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  1. Vote On Candidates
    1. Next to the button to submit candidacy is another button titled Vote. You will click this button to make a vote for yourself (optional).
      The council uses Phragmén approval voting, which is also used in the validator elections. This means that you can choose up to 16 distinct candidates to vote for and your stake will equalize between them. For this guide, choose to approve your own candidacy by clicking on the switch next to your account and changing it to say Aye.
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  1. Winning
    1. After the TermDuration, the top DesiredMembers members will be selected as the Council. If you are one of the lucky ones to win a council election you will see your account move underneath the row Members.
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Propose Council Motion

  1. Propose A Motion
    1. Go to Polkadot apps dashboard and navigate to the Governance > Council > Motions tab. Click the button on the right that says Propose motion.
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      Specify the threshold and proposal action of your choice. In this tutorial, the System -> remark action is used as an example for the proposal action. To submit the transaction, click on the Propose button.
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      After making the transaction, you will see that your motion appears in the following format. This indicates that you have successfully proposed a council motion.
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  1. Vote A Motion
    1. During the MotionDuration, the proposed motion will be available for voting by all council members, including yourself. At the end of the MotionDuration, the system will evaluate the vote results and determine whether to execute or abort the motion based on the outcome.
      Click the button Vote to cast a vote for the motion.
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      Select the appropriate council member account, and if you agree with the proposal, click the Vote Aye button. Alternatively, if you disagree with the proposal, click the Vote Nay button.
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      Once successful, you will see your vote appear in the dropdown in the motion details.
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      Once all council members have cast their votes on the motion, if it is approved, click the Close button to initiate immediate execution of the motion. However, if the motion does not receive enough votes for approval, it will be closed without execution.
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      It's executed immediately:
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