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DRep Pioneer Program Lesson Plan

Module 1: Cardano’s Governance and Roles​

Activity 4: Cardano’s On-Chain Governance Design (40 min)​

In this activity, participants will learn about the on-chain governance design, focusing on how the governance system is described on CIP-1694.

Open the training slides, navigate to the Module 1 section, and highlight the following talking points:

  • During Module 1, you will understand the key aspects of Cardano's on-chain governance design.
  • You will gain deep insight into the expectations and responsibilities of the DRep role and understand the relevance of delegation.

Continue to the “Cardano’s On-Chain Governance Design” section and explain the three pillars of Cardano's governance in the age of Voltaire:

  1. Institutions
  2. Constitutional representation
  3. Democratic consent

At this point, highlight the importance of reading CIP-1694 to understand better the proposed governance system for Cardano, which will allow on-chain decision-making.

Continue with the lesson and introduce the five governance roles:

  1. Delegate Representative (DRep)
  2. Stake Pool Operator (SPO)
  3. Constitutional Committee (CC)
  4. Delegating ada Holders
  5. Non-Delegating ada Holders

Understanding these roles may be challenging. A suggested approach to allowing participants a more profound understanding is to use the “students-produced question” approach. Asking questions is challenging, and participants can do deep thinking and learning by developing questions (Franke et al., 2009). Instead of asking participants questions about the roles to check if they understand them, encourage them to read the definitions and formulate their own questions about each role. This practice engages participants' working and long-term memory (Arnold, 1984).

After presenting the governance roles, briefly describe the processes attained to each role. Point out that the support tools for each role will be explained later.

Finally, explain the overall governance action enactment process. Recall that CIP-1694 describes seven types of governance actions that can be proposed by ada holders and voted by the governance roles with voting rights (DRep, SPO, and CC member).

As a proposed engagement strategy, you can create groups representing each role with voting rights and simulate voting under different scenarios using flashcards or sticky notes to record votes.

Ensure there are no pending questions before moving on to the next activity.

Activity 5: The DRep Role (20 min)​

In this activity, participants will review the definition of the DRep role. Jump to “The DRep Role” section in the training slides and discuss the responsibilities and expectations of a DRep. Point out the importance of a DRep as the collective voice of the ada holders that a DRep represents.

To better understand the DRep role, facilitate a discussion between the participants by asking the following questions:

  1. How would you describe the DRep to a newcomer to Cardano?
  2. What are the main challenges a DRep can face?
  3. As a DRep, how would you deal with a conflict of interest when voting on a governance action?

There are no right or wrong answers to these questions; they are intended to foster collaboration between participants. Feel free to add or modify questions at your discretion.

Ensure there are no pending questions before moving on to the next activity.

Activity 6: Understanding Delegation (20 min)​

In this activity, participants will learn about the importance of delegation and how it works. Move into the “Understanding Delegation” section on the training slides and start by fostering a critical thinking dialogue between the participants using The Socratic Method.

This method involves a shared dialogue between teacher and students in a classroom setup. The teacher leads by posing thought-provoking questions. Students actively engage by asking questions of their own. The discussion goes back and forth.

You can start the discussion by posing questions, such as:

  • What do you understand as “delegation” in Cardano’s ecosystem context?
  • Are you familiar with delegation outside of Cardano’s ecosystem?

There are no right or wrong answers. The idea is to check participants' pulse around the meaning of delegation to set a baseline before explaining why delegation is important in the context of Cardano’s Governance.

Explain why delegation is necessary and how it is used in several liquid democracy applications.

Next, under the context of delegating voting rights to DReps, check participants' pulse on the following questions:

  • Why not direct voting instead of delegation?
  • Does delegation help?

Figure out scenarios that can illustrate the rationing proposed in the slides.

When the discussion ends, ensure there are no pending questions before moving on to the next activity.