# Governance Basics

Governance is a complex process with three overarching phases: 

* **Refinement**
* **Decision**
* **Enforcement**

In order to make effective and efficient decisions DAOs must navigate all three of these phases. The navigation of these three overarching phases is complex and different for each DAO.  

## Refinement

Refinement is the phase in which ideas and potential proposals are introduced and refined before they go to a more formal vote creating a decision. **Refinement is the process that the Crystal Platform is built for because it facilitates participation and idea refinement through community engagement**. Other tools often used in the refinement process include twitter spaces, virtual discussions, chat rooms, etc...

To illustrate further, Uniswap has 6 step in their governance process. 5 of them are in the refinement stage. So while the decision and execution phases are extremely important and the true  innovation, decisions spend much time in the refinement phase.

## Decision

The decision phase is between a vote taking place and a decision being made. In most DAOs cases, the decision phase is when an on-chain proposal and vote occurs to effect the treasury of the DAO. Although, other DAOs can operate on a trust model where off-chain votes occur and the core team members make decision through a multisig wallet. These examples serve to show that DAOs can operate in many different ways within each of these phases.

## Enforcement

Enforcement is the phase in while a transaction is made. With the [Clarity Protocol](https://docsend.com/view/wad452ibgnizdf2w), enforcement can come from a smart contract executing after a on-chain vote. Enforcement can also be carried out through a multi-signature wallet or a core trusted group within a community.