Constitutional Committee Elections 2025: What happened, who was selected, how it worked - and why it matters

In 2025, Cardano crossed a historic threshold: the first election of a fully community-elected Constitutional Committee (CC) - the body charged with guarding the Cardano Constitution and deciding whether on-chain governance actions can move forward. With seven members confirmed and the interim committee being replaced on-chain, Cardano entered a new phase of decentralization.

What is the Constitutional Committee?

Under Cardano’s governance model, the CC is one of three branches - alongside Delegated Representatives (DReps) and Stake Pool Operators (SPOs) - that must ratify governance actions like protocol parameter updates, treasury withdrawals, and hard-fork initiations. Its mandate is to check whether proposed actions comply with the Cardano Constitution. Without its approval, most governance changes cannot happen.

The Constitution itself, ratified through a global community process, establishes the guiding principles and boundaries for Cardano’s evolution. With the Plomin upgrade in early 2025, this framework became fully operational.

From interim to fully elected

To get governance off the ground, Cardano began with an interim CC that combined three elected community members, Intersect through a member-only council, and founding-entity representatives from IOG, EMURGO, the Cardano Foundation. This arrangement was always temporary, designed to transition toward a fully elected committee.

By 2025, that transition became reality. The Cardano Foundation, IOG, EMURGO and Intersect all announced they would step back from their CC roles, choosing not to partake in the election in order to strengthen community ownership of governance, and in the case of Intersect, continue to move to a neutral and coordinating organization.

How the 2025 CC election worked

Who could run? Registration began in May, when any ada holder could register as a candidate, individually or as part of a consortium. 

Who voted? The CC election working group settled on a DRep-based system, where DReps - who already represent delegated ada in governance - cast the votes.

When was voting? Voting opened in June, and preliminary results were posted in early July. An independent audit confirmed the outcome before the committee was submitted for the official on-chain process.

Next steps: On-chain governance then had to formally approve replacing the interim CC with the elected one. This action required support from both DReps and SPOs, with significant majorities needed. If it failed, Cardano would enter a state where governance actions could not pass until a valid committee was in place.

Who won? The seven new constitutional guardians

The election produced seven winners, each serving staggered terms to maintain continuity:

1. Cardano Atlantic Council 
2. Tingvard 
3. Eastern Cardano Council
4. KTorZ 
5. Ace Alliance 
6. Cardano Japan Council 
7. Phil_uplc 

This lineup marks the first time all CC members were chosen directly by the community.

The CC’s powers - and the guardrails around them

• What the CC does: It votes either “constitutional, unconstitutional or abstain” on governance actions. Each member has one vote (1/7).
• How it changes: On-chain governance allows adding or removing members, adjusting term lengths, or changing the signature threshold needed for decisions.
• Why it matters: Many governance actions require CC approval, so its role is pivotal in keeping Cardano aligned with its Constitution.
• Staggered terms: The Constitution mandates staggered elections; members serve offset terms to prevent sudden turnover, ensure stability, and maintain continuity in constitutional oversight.

Why this election matters

This election is the culmination of years of planning, beginning with CIP-1694 and realized with the Chang and Plomin upgrades. The interim CC played an integral role in the first year of on-chain governance - and now the 2025 CC election finalized the transfer of constitutional power to the community in full.

It also demonstrated Cardano’s unique approach to decentralization: founding entities stepping back, community collectives stepping up, and DReps and SPOs serving as the connective tissue of legitimacy.

Participation, transparency, and first tests

Throughout 2025, governance actions accelerated under this new system: protocol updates, treasury withdrawals, and budget proposals all flowed through the tripartite structure. CC members published public rationales for their votes, adding transparency and accountability. This culture of openness will only deepen with the elected committee.

Closing: how a fully elected CC changes Cardano

A fully elected Constitutional Committee changes Cardano in three key ways:

1. Checks and accountability. The CC’s legitimacy now comes entirely from the community. If it strays from its constitutional duty, it can be replaced via on-chain governance.
2. Resilience. With staggered terms and formal update mechanisms, the CC is robust against disruption and ensures continuity.
3. Decentralization with participation. If the CC is not approved or loses legitimacy, Cardano governance pauses until the community takes action. This safeguard motivates ongoing involvement and ensures constitutional compliance remains central to the system.

Cardano has always aimed for community-led evolution. With a fully elected Constitutional Committee in place, that ambition is now reality - the community is not just participating in governance, it is governing.

Acknowledgments

A special thanks goes to all those who served on the Interim Constitutional Committee, who guided Cardano through the earliest days of constitutional governance. Gratitude also goes to all the DReps and SPOs who cast their votes to ratify the fully elected CC, making this milestone possible. Finally, recognition is due members of the Civics Committee here at Intersect, and the volunteers who stepped up and formed the CC Election Working Group - whose efforts in designing and facilitating the election process helped bring Cardano’s governance vision into practice.

Voices from the community

“As the fourth un-elected seat on the Interim Constitutional Committee (ICC) alongside the three founding entities, Intersect attempted to bridge the gap by opening their seat up to community member representatives. From 34 applicants, 10 members were selected and it has been an honour to carry out this role in the most foundational year of Cardano governance. In the first year, there was no guidebook for governance and we were all very much finding our way through this new frontier together. We would like to thank Intersect for allowing us to operate with the highest level of independence, absent of any undue influence in our decision making. It has had its challenges, as reflected in us seeing our term out with just 7 remaining members, but on the whole we will all look back with pride at having played our part in navigating this first year to the point that we can now hand the wheel over to a truly community-elected Constitutional Committee.” - Ian Hartwell, Intersect Constitutional Council

"Electing a new community led Cardano CC is sailing into uncharted waters. Thank God for that. Cardano's founding entities have left their roles to enthusiasts and idealists. This bodes well for Cardano. Certainty and top-down in crypto is a form of death. This is the kind of excitement and unpredictability that is present only in grassroots ecosystems. " - $inputendorsers, DRep

“Cardano doing biggly governance moves 🔥
Thanks to everyone in CC election WG who did an amazing job on the process getting us all here 🫶” -  Ken-Erik Ølmheim, CC Election Working Group Chair