The Cardano Constitution
What the Cardano Constitution governs, how the Constitutional Committee enforces it, and how it can be amended through governance.
The Cardano Constitution is the document every governance action is measured against. It sets out what the protocol and its treasury may and may not do, and it is the standard the Constitutional Committee applies when deciding whether an action can proceed.
What the Constitutional Committee does
The Committee does not decide whether a proposal is a good idea — DReps and SPOs do that by voting. The Committee decides only whether it is constitutional. An action can pass its vote and still fail if the Committee judges it outside the Constitution’s bounds.
Amending it
Changing the Constitution requires a New Constitution governance action, which carries the highest approval thresholds in Cardano governance. That is intentional — the document that constrains everything else should be the hardest thing to change.
Frequently asked questions
- Can the Cardano Constitution be changed?
- Yes, through a New Constitution governance action. It requires the highest approval thresholds of any action type, so amendments are deliberately difficult.
- Can the Constitutional Committee block a proposal the community voted for?
- The Committee can rule an action unconstitutional, which prevents enactment. It cannot block an action simply for disagreeing with it, and the Committee itself can be replaced through governance.