Insight into voting in DAOs: conceptual analysis and a proposal for evaluation framework

Fan, Y., Zhang, L. , Wang, R. and Imran, M. A. (2023) Insight into voting in DAOs: conceptual analysis and a proposal for evaluation framework. IEEE Network, (doi: 10.1109/MNET.137.2200561) (Early Online Publication)

Abstract

Driven by the development of blockchain infrastructures and the promotion of Web 3, more than 4000 Decentralized Autonomous Organizations (DAOs) have been developed as online organizations jointly owned and managed by their members who work for the same interests. Voting mechanisms as the democratic administration of DAOs without the involvement of central authority, are crucial to both the development of the DAO community and the protection of individual interests. This paper is one of the first analyses of the critical role of voting mechanisms in DAOs' operation. In the absence of systematic studies of voting mechanisms in DAOs, we propose five tiers of decentralization in DAO voting which marks the critical difference between DAO voting and conventional voting. We also define four dimensions to comprehensively evaluate the performance of DAO voting mechanisms, which identify the demands and characteristics of DAO voting and put forward clear design guidelines for voting mechanisms in DAOs. Finally, we take seven typical voting mechanisms as examples and analyze their performance in our proposed evaluation schemes.

• Item Type: Articles
• Status: Early Online Publication
• Refereed: Yes
• Glasgow Author(s) Enlighten ID: Wang, Ruiyu and Zhang, Professor Lei and Imran, Professor Muhammad and Fan, Yixuan
• Authors: Fan, Y., Zhang, L., Wang, R., and Imran, M. A.
• College/School: College of Science and Engineering; College of Science and Engineering > School of Engineering > Autonomous Systems and Connectivity
• Journal Name: IEEE Network
• Journal Abbr.: 1558-156X
• Publisher: IEEE
• ISSN: 0890-8044
• Copyright Holders: Copyright © 2023 IEEE
• First Published: First published in IEEE Network 2023
• Publisher Policy: Reproduced in accordance with the copyright policy of the publisher