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Discord GitHub X Forum Main ICP Website
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 * Introduction
    * ICP, the Internet Computer Protocol
    * The World Computer vision
    * A Brief History of ICP

 * Protocol documentation
    * Architecture of the Internet Computer
    * Core protocol
       * Overview
       * Peer to peer
       * Consensus
       * Message routing
       * Execution layer
   
    * Governance
       * Tokenomics
       * Network Nervous System
       * Service Nervous System
   
    * Chain evolution
       * Infinite scalability
       * Fault tolerance
       * Blockchain protocol upgrades
   
    * Chain fusion
       * Chain-key cryptography
       * Chain-key signatures
       * Bitcoin integration
       * Chain-key tokens
   
    * Smart contracts
       * Canister smart contracts
       * Motoko
       * Certified communication
   
    * Web access
       * HTTP gateway protocol
       * Asset certification
       * Boundary nodes
       * Internet Identity

 * Capabilities
    * Smart contracts hold bitcoin
    * Smart contracts call out to Web2
    * Smart contracts serve the web

Discord GitHub X Forum Main ICP Website
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On this page
Overview
 * Overview
 * Governance participation
 * Proposals
 * Liquid democracy
 * Voting rules
 * Proposal execution
 * What the NNS governs
 * The architecture of the NNS


ON THIS PAGE

 * Overview
 * Governance participation
 * Proposals
 * Liquid democracy
 * Voting rules
 * Proposal execution
 * What the NNS governs
 * The architecture of the NNS


NETWORK NERVOUS SYSTEM

The Network Nervous System (NNS) is the DAO that controls the Internet Computer
blockchain. It is an open, permissionless governance system, where everyone can
participate by staking ICP utility tokens in so-called neurons. Decisions are
made by voting on proposals, which can be submitted by anyone.


GOVERNANCE PARTICIPATION

Governance participants are called neurons. Neurons are created by staking ICP
utility tokens, which means locking the tokens for a period of time. A neuron’s
voting power is depending on three main factors:

 1. the amount of ICP tokens the neuron stakes
 2. the duration of the staking period, called the neuron’s dissolve delay
 3. (roughly) the time since when the tokens have last been staked, called the
    neuron’s age.

This incentivises neurons to vote in the long-term interest of the ICP as those
neurons who are committed for a longer time have more voting power.

Governance participation is incentivised by voting rewards to neurons. They are
proportional to a neuron’s voting power and how much voting decisions a neuron
participated in.


PROPOSALS

Proposals are suggestions on how to change the ICP protocol. Any neuron can
submit a proposal, and all other neurons can then vote on it. Neurons can vote
with the voting power they have at the time of the proposal’s submission.


LIQUID DEMOCRACY

The NNS implements a form of liquid democracy, which means that neurons can
either vote directly on proposals, or delegate their voting power to other
neurons, called following. Following is done on the basis of proposal topics,
i.e. groups of proposals that concern similar decision. This facilitates
following different experts on different topics. The voting delegations can be
changed at any point in time.


VOTING RULES

Voting on NNS proposals follows an algorithm called wait-for-quiet. The main
idea of wait-for-quiet is that proposals where all voters agree can be executed
quickly, while strongly contested proposals have a longer voting period. This
allows voters to have enough time to react if a proposal result is turned all of
a sudden. Currently, most proposals start with an initial voting period of 4
days that can be extended up to a total of 8 days. A proposal is adopted if
either of the two conditions are met:

 1. the voting period has elapsed, there are more votes in favor than against
    the proposal (simple majority), and at least 3% of the totally available
    voting power voted in favor of the proposal (enough participation).
 2. more than 50% of the total voting power are in favor of the proposal. At
    this point, the proposal’s result cannot be changed anymore even if all
    remaining voters vote against the proposal and therefore the proposal is
    executed without awaiting the end of the voting period.


PROPOSAL EXECUTION

As soon as a proposal is adopted, it is executed by the NNS. With very few
exceptions, proposals are executed automatically and fully on-chain.


WHAT THE NNS GOVERNS

The NNS governs the full Internet Computer blockchain. For example, the NNS
makes decisions on the following topics.

 * Network topology: The NNS decides which node machines can join the network
   and how these nodes are organized into subnets.
 * Software run on the nodes: The NNS decides which software is run by the nodes
   that form the blockchain. This allows the NNS to upgrade the protocol without
   manual intervention of the individual node operators.
 * Tokenomics: The NNS decides how many rewards node operators and governance
   participants get and the costs of computation and storage on the Internet
   Computer.
 * Governance: The NNS decides on the rules of the governance itself, e.g. how
   many votes are needed for a proposal to be adopted, how long the voting
   period is, etc.
 * Motion: These proposals allow for opinion polls and are the only proposals
   that do not have a direct effect.

With the exception of motion proposals, all these decisions are executed fully
on-chain and at low cost compared to other chains. Therefore, decisions can be
made efficiently and frequently allowing the NNS to adapt the ICP platform to
the community’s needs.


THE ARCHITECTURE OF THE NNS

The NNS is implemented as a set of canister smart contracts on a dedicated NNS
system subnet. Facilitated by the low computation and storage costs on the ICP,
and since the NNS subnet is cross-subsidized by other subnets, voting on
proposals is free of charge and a high volume of votes and proposals can be
processed and stored on-chain.

Two important canisters are the governance canister that manages neurons,
proposals, and the voting process, and the ICP ledger canister that implements
the ICP token which is the NNS governance token. In addition, there are other
canisters for special purposes, for example the cycles minting canister (CMC)
that is responsible to mint cycles - the “gas” used for computation and storage
on the ICP.

To allow for flexible governance evolution, the NNS canisters are mutable smart
contracts. Two canisters, called root and lifeline, are responsible for
upgrading the NNS canisters. As NNS canisters control each other, it is ensured
that they can only be changed by an NNS DAO decision.



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