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Everything you need to understand how Cardano is governed.
New to Cardano governance?
Follow our step-by-step guide to understand governance, connect your wallet, and choose your representative.
Cardano lets ADA holders vote on how the network is run — things like spending community funds, changing rules, and approving upgrades. You participate by choosing a representative who votes for you.
Explore representativesYou pick someone who votes on Cardano decisions for you. Your ADA never leaves your wallet — you’re just choosing who speaks on your behalf. You can switch anytime.
Find your representativeProposals cover spending community funds, changing network rules, approving major upgrades, and more. Each decision needs approval from representatives, staking pools, and a constitutional committee.
Browse decisionsThree groups share the power: representatives (who vote on your behalf), staking pool operators (who run the network), and a constitutional committee (who make sure the rules are followed).
View the CommitteeSomeone who votes on Cardano decisions on behalf of ADA holders like you. Think of them as your elected representative.
Pick one and your ADA backs their votes on every governance decision — it never leaves your wallet, you're just lending your voice.
Cardano runs on 5-day cycles. Think of it like a work week — at the end, staking rewards land in your wallet and governance votes get counted.
Epochs are the heartbeat of Cardano — rewards, delegation snapshots, and governance deadlines all align to epoch boundaries.
Choosing who votes on your behalf. Like picking your representative in an election — except you can switch anytime, and your ADA never leaves your wallet.
It's free, takes about a minute, and doesn't move your ADA anywhere. You're just choosing who speaks for you when governance decisions come up.
A proposal to change something about Cardano — like spending community funds, updating network rules, or approving a major upgrade.
Governance actions are how Cardano's rules get changed. They require approval from DReps, stake pools, and the Constitutional Committee.
The total ADA backing a representative. It's like the difference between a petition with 10 signatures and 10,000 — more backing means more influence.
Voting power determines how much weight a DRep's vote carries. High voting power doesn't mean high quality — that's what the score is for.
A representative's written explanation of why they voted a certain way. The difference between "I voted yes" and "here's why I voted yes."
Rationales turn votes from yes/no signals into accountable positions — essential for informed delegation.
A quality rating from 0 to 100 that measures how well a representative does their job — not how much ADA they have, but how responsibly they use the trust placed in them.
The DRep Score isn't about voting power — it measures governance discipline, transparency, and engagement quality.
A quality badge for representatives — Emerging, Bronze, Silver, Gold, Diamond, or Legendary. Like a trust rating that tells you at a glance how strong their track record is.
Tiers translate percentile scores into memorable, comparable labels that make governance quality scannable at a glance.
Cardano's shared community fund — built up from transaction fees over time. Think of it like a city budget that the residents themselves vote on how to spend.
The Cardano treasury holds billions in ADA. Every withdrawal requires governance approval from DReps, pools, and the Constitutional Committee.
A small group of elected officials who act as Cardano's referees. They check that every governance decision follows the rules before it takes effect.
The Constitutional Committee is one of three governance bodies. Their approval (alongside DReps and stake pools) is required for most governance actions.
A major upgrade to how Cardano works — like a big software update that everyone on the network adopts at the same time. These are rare and require broad agreement.
Hard forks are the highest-stakes governance actions — they change how Cardano works at the protocol level.
The minimum number of people who need to participate for a vote to count. It's a safeguard — if not enough representatives show up, the decision doesn't go through.
Quorum prevents a small group from passing governance actions when most of the network isn't paying attention.