CSC Charter of Sapient Civilizations
⭐ GitHub
Open Governance

Governance Model

CSC is governed by an open, transparent process designed to ensure scholarly rigor, cultural representation, and long-term stability. The governance model defines roles, decision processes, versioning, and community norms.

Roles & Responsibilities

Maintainers

Core Maintainers

Responsible for repository integrity, merge authority, and ADR filing. Maintainers must represent at least three distinct civilizational traditions. They hold veto power over changes that would violate meta-principles.

  • Merge approved PRs
  • File ADR records
  • Enforce 72-hour freeze periods
  • Resolve tie votes in the Council
Contributors

Contributors

Anyone who submits a PR, opens an issue, or participates in RFC discussions. No formal election required — contribution establishes standing. Must abide by the Code of Conduct.

  • Submit clause cards and amendments
  • Peer review PRs (3-area review)
  • Participate in RFC discussions
  • File issues and bug reports
Council

Civilizational Council

An advisory body with at least one representative from each of the 8 major civilizational traditions. Council approval is required for: new domains, changes to meta-principles, and version major increments (vX).

  • Review and vote on RFCs
  • Validate cross-cultural accuracy
  • Approve major version releases
  • Mediate norm conflict disputes

Decision Matrix

Who approves what kind of change?

Change Type Reviewer Count Council Required Freeze Period ADR Filed
Typo / formatting fix 1 Maintainer No None No
New clause card (Layer 2 or 3) 3 (one per area) No None No
Amendment to existing clause 3 (one per area) No None Optional
New domain (Layer 2) 5+ Yes 72 hours Yes
Amendment to meta-principle All Maintainers Yes 72 hours Yes
New meta-principle All Maintainers Yes (unanimous) 72 hours Yes
Major version increment (vX) All Maintainers Yes (unanimous) 72 hours Yes

Versioning

CSC uses a two-part version format: vX.Y

  • X (major) — Structural changes: new or removed domains, changes to meta-principles, breaking changes to clause ID formats. Requires Council unanimous approval and 72-hour freeze.
  • Y (minor) — Routine edits: new clause cards, case additions, source corrections, clarifications. Does not require Council vote. No freeze period.
72-hour freeze: No merges may occur during the freeze window preceding a major version release, except critical security or accuracy corrections approved by a Maintainer majority.

Version History

VersionDateKey Changes
v0.1.0Oct 2025Initial bilingual release, 10 principles
v0.0.9Sep 2025Chinese-only charter + governance model
InitialAug 2025Repository created

Next planned: v0.2.0 — complete bilingual clause library, API access.

RFC & ADR Process

Request for Comment (RFC)

Required for: new domains, meta-principle changes, layer restructuring.

  1. Open a GitHub Issue with [RFC] prefix
  2. Post a draft with: motivation, proposed change, affected clauses, migration path, alternatives considered
  3. 7-day minimum public comment period (14 days for meta-principle changes)
  4. Council discussion and vote (simple majority, except unanimous for meta-principle changes)
  5. Winning proposal assigned to a PR
  6. 72-hour freeze on merge

Architectural Decision Record (ADR)

Filed on merge for every RFC-level change.

Each ADR records:

  • Status — Accepted, Superseded, Deprecated
  • Context — Why the change was needed
  • Decision — What was decided
  • Alternatives — What else was considered
  • Consequences — Expected effects
  • Dissent — Recorded minority views
ADRs are stored in docs/decisions/ (planned) and are a permanent record of the project's intellectual history.

Code of Conduct

CSC is committed to an inclusive, respectful, and intellectually rigorous community. The full Code of Conduct is in CODE_OF_CONDUCT.md in the repository root. Key principles:

  • Engage with evidence, not identity — critique clauses, not contributors.
  • Represent all traditions with equal scholarly care. No tradition is inherently superior.
  • Acknowledge uncertainty. Contested claims must be marked as such.
  • Never fabricate sources. Evidence integrity is the project's foundation.
  • Harassment, discrimination, and bad-faith editing will result in immediate removal.

Reporting Violations

Report Code of Conduct violations via a GitHub Issue tagged [CoC] or directly to the Maintainers. All reports are reviewed within 72 hours. Reporters may request anonymity.

Enforcement Ladder

  1. Warning + correction request
  2. Temporary contribution suspension (30 days)
  3. Permanent ban from the project
Start Contributing → Read the Charter