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97 lines
4.5 KiB
Markdown
97 lines
4.5 KiB
Markdown
# Constitution of the Compass Community
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## Preamble
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We, the community of Compass, commit to building and maintaining this project in the public interest, ensuring it
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remains open, collaborative, and resistant to centralized capture. We adopt this constitution to govern ourselves
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democratically, protect the integrity of the project, and ensure fair participation.
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## Article I: Purpose and Values
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1. **Purpose** — To develop and maintain Compass as an open-source platform for meaningful human connections, benefiting
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users and contributors.
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2. **Core Values** — Openness, transparency, collaboration, democratic participation, anti-capture safeguards.
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## Article II: Membership Levels
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1. **Definition** —
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1. A _Member_ is any individual who has an account.
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2. A _Voting Member_ is a member with voting rights. It can be a volunteer or supporting member.
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3. An _Administrator_ is a _member_ with write access to the code and higher-level
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responsibilities.
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2. **Eligibility** —
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1. To become a Voting Member, an individual must:
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- Contribute meaningfully to the project (code, documentation, design, outreach, community moderation) for a
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minimum of **5 hours** (volunteer) or contribute **$20 USD/year** (supporting member).
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- Have a 1:1 with a current administrator.
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- Be approved by the Membership Committee by a **supermajority vote**.
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2. To become an Administrator, all current Administrators must unanimously vote for them to have the role.
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3. **Provisional Voting Members** — New voting members can join discussions but must wait for a month before gaining
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voting rights.
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4. **Loss of Membership** — Voting Members may be removed for:
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- Sustained inactivity (e.g., less than 10 hours of contribution for a year or lapsed financial support for
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Supporting Members).
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- Proven bad-faith conduct (vote manipulation, harassment, sabotage). Removal requires a **2/3 vote** of Volunteers.
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[Current voting members and administrators](/members)
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## Article III: Governance Structure
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### Section 1: Interim Governance
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- Until **5 voting members** exist, decisions are made by the _Founding Maintainer_.
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- Temporary coordinators may be appointed for specific tasks.
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- Once **5 voting members** exist, leadership positions are filled via community election.
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### Section 2: Democratic Governance
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1. **Voting Power** — One Voting Member = one vote.
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2. **Quorum** — Minimum **40%** of active Voting Members must participate for a valid vote.
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3. **Decision Thresholds**:
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- **Simple majority (50%+1)** — Day-to-day operational decisions.
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- **Supermajority (2/3)** — Constitutional amendments, membership approvals/removals, major funding decisions, or
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changes to project scope.
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4. **Deliberation Period** — All proposals open for discussion at least **7 days** before voting.
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5. **Administrator Veto** — Administrators may veto any vote.
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## Article IV: Committees
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1. **Membership Committee** — Reviews Voting Member applications and eligibility disputes.
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2. **Technical Committee** — Ensures code quality, compliance with open-source principles, and maintains the platform.
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3. **Governance Committee** — Maintains the constitution, moderates votes, investigates governance concerns.
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4. **Elections** — Committees elected annually by Voting Members once the community reaches **5 voting members**.
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## Article V: Anti-Capture Safeguards
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1. **Contribution-Based Rights** — Voting rights earned through meaningful contribution or financial support..
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2. **Probation** — New Voting Members gain voting rights after 1 month of active contribution.
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3. **Identity Verification** — Voting Members must have unique, verifiable identities.
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4. **Conflict of Interest Disclosure** — Voting Members must disclose any direct financial interest in competing or
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controlling entities before voting.
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## Article VI: Transparency
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1. **Public Records** — All minutes, code changes, and votes must be publicly available.
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2. **Open Deliberations** — Discussions take place in accessible, public channels.
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## Article VII: Amendments
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1. **Proposal** — Amendments require co-signature of **10% of Voting Members**.
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2. **Deliberation** — Minimum **7-day discussion** period before voting.
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3. **Approval** — **2/3 majority** of Voting Members; Administrators may veto.
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## Article VIII: Dissolution
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- Upon dissolution, the platform will shut down.
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- The source code remains publicly available on GitHub.
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- Remaining funds are donated to a charity chosen by Voting Members.
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**Adopted on: August 11, 2025**
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**Founding Maintainer:** Martin Braquet
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