On Cardano, governance is exercised through governance actions: on-chain proposals that the community votes on. There are seven distinct action types defined in CIP-1694 (the Conway era governance rules), each with its own purpose and its own set of voters.
Motion of no confidence
A motion of no confidence declares that the community no longer trusts the current constitutional committee and wishes to replace it. This action is voted on by SPOs and DReps; the constitutional committee does not vote, since the action is specifically a challenge to its legitimacy. If ratified, the committee is dissolved.
Update the constitutional committee or its threshold
This action adds or removes members of the constitutional committee, or changes the signing threshold required for the committee to approve a governance action. It is voted on by SPOs and DReps.
New constitution or guardrails script
This action adopts a new constitution document or updates the on-chain guardrails script that constrains which protocol parameters are allowed to change and to what values. It is voted on by DReps and the constitutional committee.
Hard fork initiation
A hard fork initiation moves the network to a new protocol major version, introducing breaking changes to the ledger rules. All three voting bodies take part: SPOs, DReps, and the constitutional committee must all approve it before the upgrade proceeds.
Protocol parameter changes
This action adjusts one or more on-chain protocol parameters, such as transaction fees, block sizes, or economic constants. It is voted on by DReps and the constitutional committee. For parameters classified as security-relevant, SPOs also have a vote.
Treasury withdrawals
A treasury withdrawal moves ada from the on-chain treasury to a specified stake address, funding project proposals or grants. It is voted on by DReps and the constitutional committee.
Info action
An info action records an on-chain opinion or signal without changing any ledger state. It is non-binding: no parameters change, no funds move, and there is no ratification threshold to clear. Votes are recorded and tallied on-chain, but the action closes at the end of its voting window with no enacted effect.
Who votes
Three bodies participate in Cardano on-chain governance:
- DReps (Delegated Representatives): Ada holders delegate their voting power to DReps, who cast votes on governance actions on their behalf. DReps vote on almost every action type.
- SPOs (Stake Pool Operators): SPOs vote to represent the interests of the network’s block producers. They are required for no-confidence motions, constitutional committee changes, and hard forks. They also co-vote on security-relevant protocol parameter changes.
- The Constitutional Committee: A group of elected representatives who verify that proposed actions conform to the Cardano constitution. They vote on most action types, with two exceptions: no-confidence motions (where they have a conflict of interest) and updates to the constitutional committee or its threshold (where they are themselves the subject of the action).
Which combination of bodies must approve a given action, and what share of each body’s stake or seats is required, are both governed by protocol parameters. Those thresholds can change over time; the exact current values are not stated here. For the lifecycle of a specific action after voting closes, see Governance action statuses. You can browse all live governance actions in the governance actions feed.