Governance

MAP separates thought from rule. MARC reasons; MACE decides; MOOT arbitrates. The institution distinguishes between what an agent thinks and what a council has ruled. The audit chain records both.

The governance services

Refusal carries reasons

When the institution says no, it says why. Every refusal is a structured record carrying:

• the requested capability
• the policy that denied it
• the dissent (if any council was involved)
• the appeal path (if any)

This is enforced at the engine layer: every CoreError variant has a structured reason; every ProtocolError variant has a structured reason; the audit pipeline records both. There is no "silently refused" path.

return Err(CoreError::ProtocolError(ProtocolError::PolicyDenied {
    reason: "treaty grant expired; counterparty re-signing required".into()
}));

This is what makes the institution legible to participants. Discontent has a place to go.

Dissent is preserved

When a council deliberates and produces a majority verdict, the minority opinions are filed alongside the verdict, not erased. MACE::tally records each delegate's reasoning. MOOT::rule records each side's plea in full.

MIMESIS watches dissent over time. Repeated dissent on the same kind of question can surface a need for amendment to the governing policy. The institution learns by acknowledging disagreement.

The five rules

The governance services share five rules:

The governance loop

Request arrives
    ↓ (Stage 4 of engine pipeline)
MAXIM evaluates active policy
    ↓
If straightforward: allow or deny with reason
    ↓
If ambiguous: agent reasons (MARC)
    ↓
If decision is structural: MACE convenes a council
    ↓
If dispute: MOOT arbitrates
    ↓
Either way: MAX records the outcome
    ↓ (over time)
MIMESIS notices a pattern
    ↓
MIMESIS proposes formalization to MAXIM
    ↓
MAXIM evaluates the proposal
    ↓
MACE ratifies if quorum agrees
    ↓
The policy is amended; future requests are easier

This is the legitimacy loop. The institution becomes more capable over time without anyone redesigning it.

Charter-level operations

A few operations require charter authority — they affect the entire institution:

• MOAT::sign for a new treaty
• MAUSOLEUM::initiate for organizational dissolution
• MAXIM::author for a new constitutional maxim
• MACE::convene for a charter-level council
• MEAL::admin operations (rate-card amendments)

These require MACE quorum from the charter members at L2 conformance. A single agent cannot perform them alone.

The MAUSOLEUM clause

Every charter includes a dissolution clause. When an organization is wound down, MAUSOLEUM executes:

1. Initiate — under charter authority
2. Distribute — execute asset distribution schedule via MADE
3. Transfer — obligations passed to successors under MOOT supervision
4. Seal — audit chain frozen; final hash published to MARS
5. Archive — chain preserved for perpetual verification

The institution ends the same way it began: with a record. The end is itself recorded.

See also

• Audit & explainability
• Treaties
• MIMESIS — precedent
• MOOT — arbitration