Authority Delegation Policy

This policy establishes how SuperBenefit DAO delegates authority to enable responsive decision-making while maintaining Member oversight. Our approach embodies subsidiarity – placing decisions with those closest to the impact and expertise.

Delegation Principles

SuperBenefit operates through distributed authority rather than centralized control. Members may delegate specific authorities to roles (such as General Circle roles, working group roles, or specialized functions) through governance decisions. All delegations remain revocable and subject to Member oversight, ensuring ultimate authority rests with the membership.

Delegated authority operates within explicit boundaries defined at delegation time. Roles exercising delegated authority cannot exceed these boundaries. While roles may sub-delegate through onchain mechanisms, sub-delegation does not transfer accountability – the original role holder remains responsible for all actions taken under their delegated authority, including those of sub-delegates.

Accountability Framework

Roles holding delegated authority maintain transparency through regular reporting to Members. The specific reporting requirements are established at delegation time, proportional to the authority's scope and impact. Accountability remains with the role regardless of any sub-delegation – roles cannot escape responsibilities by delegating to others. Entities that own roles (individually or cooperatively) are accountable for fulfilling role obligations. Members may modify or revoke delegations through standard governance processes.

Documentation

All role delegations and authorities are documented in the Hats Tree, which serves as the onchain source of truth for role structures and permissions. The DAO State documents the policies, agreements, and proposals that establish governance frameworks, while the Hats Tree implements the actual role authorities. This separation ensures clear distinction between governance decisions (DAO State) and their technical implementation (Hats Tree).