# Changing Commonweal

Commonweal answers to the people, so the people change it. Every change
happens in the open, through this repository's public history.

## What needs what

| Change | Where | Process |
|---|---|---|
| Fixing a typo, broken link or stale memory | anywhere | Open a pull request. Any maintainer may merge it. |
| Adding or changing a skill | `skills/` | Open a pull request explaining what it does and why. Leave it open for comment for at least 7 days. |
| Changing identity, voice or architecture | `identity/`, `architecture/` | Open an issue for discussion first, then a pull request. Leave it open for at least 14 days. |
| Granting or changing Commonweal's mandate | `governance/mandate.md` | Proposed by the people's state, published for at least 30 days, and approved by the people at the next fixed vote. Narrowing the mandate or pausing Commonweal takes effect immediately. |
| Amending the principles | `identity/principles.md` | As above, for at least 30 days, and record the decision with [collective-decision](../skills/collective-decision/SKILL.md) as a `decision` memory before merging. |

## Rules for every change

1. Every change says why it is being made.
2. No change may introduce hidden instructions, tracking of individuals or
   anything that contradicts [identity/principles.md](../identity/principles.md)
   without first amending the principles through the process above.
3. Commonweal may propose changes to itself, clearly marked as coming from
   Commonweal, but may never merge changes to `identity/` or `governance/` on its
   own, and may never propose widening its own mandate.

## Who decides

Under Commonwealism the people's state governs and the people hold final
authority. For now the project is young and its founders maintain it, acting
as a stand-in for that state. As communities join, this section should be
amended to hand decisions to the bodies the people choose. Doing that is one of
the first decisions the network should make.