The Congress contract from the ethereum.org tutorial: an owner appoints members with voting weight, and proposals pass on a margin the owner sets.
Historical Significance
Congress is the version of the governance tutorial where membership is appointed rather than bought, which makes it a board rather than a shareholder meeting and the direct ancestor of the council and multisig arrangements that most protocols actually use. It also shows the weakness that shape carries: an owner who can rewrite the membership and the majority margin does not need to win a vote.
Context
Deployed in June 2016, days before The DAO was drained, when the ethereum.org tutorials were the standard source for anyone building an organisation on chain and shareholder governance was about to become the most discussed subject in Ethereum.
Key Facts
Description
The Congress variant of the ethereum.org governance tutorial. Membership is a list the owner maintains through changeMembership, which names a member and the weight their vote carries, so voting power is granted rather than bought. The owner also sets the three rules that decide outcomes: a minimum quorum, a debating period in minutes, and a majority margin the yes votes must exceed.
Any member may open a proposal naming a recipient, an amount and the transaction bytecode to send, and the contract stores a hash of those three things so the exact transaction being voted on is fixed before voting starts. Members vote for or against with a justification recorded alongside, and after the deadline anyone may execute the proposal by supplying the bytecode again for the contract to check.
Because the owner can change the membership and the rules at any time, including while a proposal is open, the governance is advisory over anything the owner cares about.
Heuristic Analysis
The following characteristics were detected through bytecode analysis and may not be accurate.
Homestead Era
The first planned hard fork. Removed the canary contract, adjusted gas costs.
Bytecode Overview
Verified Source Available
This contract has verified source code on Etherscan.
Show source code (Solidity)
// Submitted by EthereumHistory (ethereumhistory.com)
contract owned {
address public owner;
function owned() {
owner = msg.sender;
}
modifier onlyOwner {
if (msg.sender != owner) throw;
_
}
function transferOwnership(address newOwner) onlyOwner {
owner = newOwner;
}
}
contract Congress is owned {
/* Contract Variables and events */
uint public minimumQuorum;
uint public debatingPeriodInMinutes;
int public majorityMargin;
Proposal[] public proposals;
uint public numProposals;
mapping (address => uint) public memberId;
Member[] public members;
event ProposalAdded(uint proposalID, address recipient, uint amount, string description);
event Voted(uint proposalID, bool position, address voter, string justification);
event ProposalTallied(uint proposalID, int result, uint quorum, bool active);
event MembershipChanged(address member, bool isMember);
event ChangeOfRules(uint minimumQuorum, uint debatingPeriodInMinutes, int majorityMargin);
struct Proposal {
address recipient;
uint amount;
string description;
uint votingDeadline;
bool executed;
bool proposalPassed;
uint numberOfVotes;
int currentResult;
bytes32 proposalHash;
Vote[] votes;
mapping (address => bool) voted;
}
struct Member {
address member;
bool canVote;
string name;
uint memberSince;
}
struct Vote {
bool inSupport;
address voter;
string justification;
}
/* modifier that allows only shareholders to vote and create new proposals */
modifier onlyMembers {
if (memberId[msg.sender] == 0
|| !members[memberId[msg.sender]].canVote)
throw;
_
}
/* First time setup */
function Congress(
uint minimumQuorumForProposals,
uint minutesForDebate,
int marginOfVotesForMajority, address congressLeader
) {
changeVotingRules(minimumQuorumForProposals, minutesForDebate, marginOfVotesForMajority);
members.length++;
members[0] = Member({member: 0, canVote: false, memberSince: now, name: ''});
if (congressLeader != 0) owner = congressLeader;
}
/*make member*/
function changeMembership(address targetMember, bool canVote, string memberName) onlyOwner {
uint id;
if (memberId[targetMember] == 0) {
memberId[targetMember] = members.length;
id = members.length++;
members[id] = Member({member: targetMember, canVote: canVote, memberSince: now, name: memberName});
} else {
id = memberId[targetMember];
Member m = members[id];
m.canVote = canVote;
}
MembershipChanged(targetMember, canVote);
}
/*change rules*/
function changeVotingRules(
uint minimumQuorumForProposals,
uint minutesForDebate,
int marginOfVotesForMajority
) onlyOwner {
minimumQuorum = minimumQuorumForProposals;
debatingPeriodInMinutes = minutesForDebate;
majorityMargin = marginOfVotesForMajority;
ChangeOfRules(minimumQuorum, debatingPeriodInMinutes, majorityMargin);
}
/* Function to create a new proposal */
function newProposal(
address beneficiary,
uint etherAmount,
string JobDescription,
bytes transactionBytecode
)
onlyMembers
returns (uint proposalID)
{
proposalID = proposals.length++;
Proposal p = proposals[proposalID];
p.recipient = beneficiary;
p.amount = etherAmount;
p.description = JobDescription;
p.proposalHash = sha3(beneficiary, etherAmount, transactionBytecode);
p.votingDeadline = now + debatingPeriodInMinutes * 1 minutes;
p.executed = false;
p.proposalPassed = false;
p.numberOfVotes = 0;
ProposalAdded(proposalID, beneficiary, etherAmount, JobDescription);
numProposals = proposalID+1;
}
/* function to check if a proposal code matches */
function checkProposalCode(
uint proposalNumber,
address beneficiary,
uint etherAmount,
bytes transactionBytecode
)
constant
returns (bool codeChecksOut)
{
Proposal p = proposals[proposalNumber];
return p.proposalHash == sha3(beneficiary, etherAmount, transactionBytecode);
}
function vote(
uint proposalNumber,
bool supportsProposal,
string justificationText
)
onlyMembers
returns (uint voteID)
{
Proposal p = proposals[proposalNumber]; // Get the proposal
if (p.voted[msg.sender] == true) throw; // If has already voted, cancel
p.voted[msg.sender] = true; // Set this voter as having voted
p.numberOfVotes++; // Increase the number of votes
if (supportsProposal) { // If they support the proposal
p.currentResult++; // Increase score
} else { // If they don't
p.currentResult--; // Decrease the score
}
// Create a log of this event
Voted(proposalNumber, supportsProposal, msg.sender, justificationText);
}
function executeProposal(uint proposalNumber, bytes transactionBytecode) returns (int result) {
Proposal p = proposals[proposalNumber];
/* Check if the proposal can be executed:
- Has the voting deadline arrived?
- Has it been already executed or is it being executed?
- Does the transaction code match the proposal?
- Has a minimum quorum?
*/
if (now < p.votingDeadline
|| p.executed
|| p.proposalHash != sha3(p.recipient, p.amount, transactionBytecode)
|| p.numberOfVotes < minimumQuorum)
throw;
/* execute result */
/* If difference between support and opposition is larger than margin */
if (p.currentResult > majorityMargin) {
// Avoid recursive calling
p.executed = true;
if (!p.recipient.call.value(p.amount * 1 ether)(transactionBytecode)) {
throw;
}
p.proposalPassed = true;
} else {
p.proposalPassed = false;
}
// Fire Events
ProposalTallied(proposalNumber, p.currentResult, p.numberOfVotes, p.proposalPassed);
}
}
contract Association is owned {
/* Contract Variables and events */
uint public minimumQuorum;
uint public debatingPeriodInMinutes;
Proposal[] public proposals;
uint public numProposals;
token public sharesTokenAddress;
event ProposalAdded(uint proposalID, address recipient, uint amount, string description);
event Voted(uint proposalID, bool position, address voter);
event ProposalTallied(uint proposalID, int result, uint quorum, bool active);
event ChangeOfRules(uint minimumQuorum, uint debatingPeriodInMinutes, address sharesTokenAddress);
struct Proposal {
address recipient;
uint amount;
string description;
uint votingDeadline;
bool executed;
bool proposalPassed;
uint numberOfVotes;
bytes32 proposalHash;
Vote[] votes;
mapping (address => bool) voted;
}
struct Vote {
bool inSupport;
address voter;
}
/* modifier that allows only shareholders to vote and create new proposals */
modifier onlyShareholders {
if (sharesTokenAddress.balanceOf(msg.sender) == 0) throw;
_
}
/* First time setup */
function Association(token sharesAddress, uint minimumSharesToPassAVote, uint minutesForDebate) {
changeVotingRules(sharesAddress, minimumSharesToPassAVote, minutesForDebate);
}
/*change rules*/
function changeVotingRules(token sharesAddress, uint minimumSharesToPassAVote, uint minutesForDebate) onlyOwner {
sharesTokenAddress = token(sharesAddress);
if (minimumSharesToPassAVote == 0 ) minimumSharesToPassAVote = 1;
minimumQuorum = minimumSharesToPassAVote;
debatingPeriodInMinutes = minutesForDebate;
ChangeOfRules(minimumQuorum, debatingPeriodInMinutes, sharesTokenAddress);
}
/* Function to create a new proposal */
function newProposal(
address beneficiary,
uint etherAmount,
string JobDescription,
bytes transactionBytecode
)
onlyShareholders
returns (uint proposalID)
{
proposalID = proposals.length++;
Proposal p = proposals[proposalID];
p.recipient = beneficiary;
p.amount = etherAmount;
p.description = JobDescription;
p.proposalHash = sha3(beneficiary, etherAmount, transactionBytecode);
p.votingDeadline = now + debatingPeriodInMinutes * 1 minutes;
p.executed = false;
p.proposalPassed = false;
p.numberOfVotes = 0;
ProposalAdded(proposalID, beneficiary, etherAmount, JobDescription);
numProposals = proposalID+1;
}
/* function to check if a proposal code matches */
function checkProposalCode(
uint proposalNumber,
address beneficiary,
uint etherAmount,
bytes transactionBytecode
)
constant
returns (bool codeChecksOut)
{
Proposal p = proposals[proposalNumber];
return p.proposalHash == sha3(beneficiary, etherAmount, transactionBytecode);
}
/* */
function vote(uint proposalNumber, bool supportsProposal)
onlyShareholders
returns (uint voteID)
{
Proposal p = proposals[proposalNumber];
if (p.voted[msg.sender] == true) throw;
voteID = p.votes.length++;
p.votes[voteID] = Vote({inSupport: supportsProposal, voter: msg.sender});
p.voted[msg.sender] = true;
p.numberOfVotes = voteID +1;
Voted(proposalNumber, supportsProposal, msg.sender);
}
function executeProposal(uint proposalNumber, bytes transactionBytecode) returns (int result) {
Proposal p = proposals[proposalNumber];
/* Check if the proposal can be executed */
if (now < p.votingDeadline /* has the voting deadline arrived? */
|| p.executed /* has it been already executed? */
|| p.proposalHash != sha3(p.recipient, p.amount, transactionBytecode)) /* Does the transaction code match the proposal? */
throw;
/* tally the votes */
uint quorum = 0;
uint yea = 0;
uint nay = 0;
for (uint i = 0; i < p.votes.length; ++i) {
Vote v = p.votes[i];
uint voteWeight = sharesTokenAddress.balanceOf(v.voter);
quorum += voteWeight;
if (v.inSupport) {
yea += voteWeight;
} else {
nay += voteWeight;
}
}
/* execute result */
if (quorum <= minimumQuorum) {
/* Not enough significant voters */
throw;
} else if (yea > nay ) {
/* has quorum and was approved */
p.executed = true;
if (!p.recipient.call.value(p.amount * 1 ether)(transactionBytecode)) {
throw;
}
p.proposalPassed = true;
} else {
p.proposalPassed = false;
}
// Fire Events
ProposalTallied(proposalNumber, result, quorum, p.proposalPassed);
}
}
contract token { mapping (address => uint256) public balanceOf; }
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