Description
This book offers an interdisciplinary investigation of Decentralized Autonomous Organizations (DAOs) as emerging governance structures. It examines how DAOs seek to replace institutional trust with programmable code and the vulnerabilities that appear when code proves incomplete. Combining political theory, cryptoeconomics, organizational design, and cultural analysis, the volume introduces original tools such as DAO Health Indicators, KPI-based governance models, and network-driven valuation methods. It also explores institutional resilience through concepts of ambiguity, dissent, and organizational memory. The chapters range from applied frameworks and selected case studies to theoretical insights, including Gödel s incompleteness theorem, complexity theory, and quantum coordination metaphors. By integrating scholarly rigor with actionable templates, the book provides a roadmap for developers, researchers, and policymakers seeking to design resilient, transparent, and legitimate decentralized institutions. It is essential reading for anyone engaged with the governance challenges of the Web3 ecosystem.
Chapter 1: Introduction.- Chapter 2: From Principles to Practice: Measuring the Impact of Governance Reforms in DAOs.- Chapter 3: DAO Health Framework: Designing Indicators for Long-Term Institutional Sustainability.- Chapter 4: Beyond the Code: Cultural and Behavioral Dynamics in DAOs.- Chapter 5: Network-Driven Valuation of Decentralized Organizations: Theoretical Models and Empirical Perspectives.- Chapter 6: Beyond the Code: Gödel s Incompleteness and the Limits of Formal Governance in DAOs.- Chapter 7: Beyond Completeness: Designing DAO Governance for Ambiguity, Dissent, and Memory.- Chapter 8: DAOs as Complex Adaptive Systems: Governance under Conditions of Decentralized Complexity.- Chapter 9: Governance or Mythology? Philosophical Paradoxes of Decentralization.
Andrea Cesaretti is an independent researcher in decentralized finance and decentralized governance. Formerly Professor of Business Administration and later of Technological Finance, he has extensive professional and academic experience in financial systems and regulation. He has published widely on blockchain governance, tokenomics, and the institutional dynamics of decentralized finance.
