DAOs, or decentralized autonomous organizations, are looking for ways to achieve the balance between efficiency and decentralization. While DAOs offer advantages over traditional organizations, they are still trying to overcome the same fundamental roadblocks: achieving efficiency and consensus within the community. Danny Chong, co-founder of Tranchess, believes that DAOs can learn from the way in which political parties elect representatives, run campaigns and meet long-term goals.
When anyone can propose anything, long-term goals become too diffused, Chong said. Poor communication often causes backlash, delays important roadmap checkpoints from being decided or executed, and reveals a lack of genuine consensus within the community.
Political parties elect representatives who draft laws for constituencies. DAOs should work in a similar way, whereby the community votes for individuals who are responsible for creating proposals that guide the project’s future. This creates a context for policies to be made in the electorate’s best interests. Additionally, political parties and candidates campaign extensively for proposed policies ahead of elections. DAOs need to undergo a similar period so that the community is fully informed about the proposals they will eventually vote on.
Thorough research is likely needed to understand the concerns and aspirations of constituents—in DAOs and the great public. Message framing is also done carefully by using compelling narratives and case studies to make policies relatable and impactful. Political parties privilege grassroots engagement, and DAOs can do the same through AMAs [ask me anythings] with community managers and a rotating system of community managers.
To mitigate centralization, leadership roles will constantly need to be assessed and term limits imposed. Electing DAO leaders should not become personality contests, and focus instead on a person’s policies to ensure decisions would be in the best interests of the DAO as a whole.
DAOs have in many ways already proven to be more effective than political parties, Chong said. For example, DAO decisions are recorded on public blockchains, meaning that anyone can see how the ship is being steered, while political parties often operate in secrecy.