# Councils & Voice

OpenYield governs itself through three **Councils** (REQ-011, vision §19):
the Mesh Council, the Guild Council, and the Stand Council. Each Freeholder
participates through the Councils, weighted by **Voice** — a multi-source
weight that combines [Stash](../nomads/stash.md), [Standing](standing.md),
Vouch, Freeholder status, and Guild membership. The **Mission Lock** makes
the covenant non-amendable: no Council can vote to change the
[Six Principles](../shared/six-principles.md) or the fee covenant.

## The three Councils

- **Mesh Council** — the mesh-wide Council. Handles protocol-level proposals
  that affect every Holder and every [Stand](stands-guilds.md).
- **Guild Council** — the Council for [Guilds](stands-guilds.md). Handles
  Guild-scope proposals, referenced by guild-id.
- **Stand Council** — the Council for a single Stand, referenced by stand-id.
  Handles Stand-scope proposals (e.g., Vault use, [Bond](bonds.md) issuance).

The three-tier shape mirrors the three [Storage Pools](../shared/storage-pools.md):
a Council exists at each layer where custody is held.

## Multi-source Voice

Voice is not one number. It is a weighted tally from five sources (locked as
the `VoiceSource` enum in `x/council`): Stash, Standing, Vouch, Freeholder,
and Guild. A Freeholder with high [Standing](standing.md) and a long-held
Stash carries more Voice than a freshly-minted one. The
[TallyResult](../reference/components.md) mirrors the Cosmos SDK `x/gov`
shape so the governance layer can wire to standard tooling. The VoteOption
enum is **Yes / No / Abstain** — there is no "no-with-veto", an anti-greed
design choice.

## Mission Lock

The Mission Lock is a locked `const bool` in `x/council`
(`MissionLockAmendable = false`). The Six Principles, the fee covenant
(ceiling 0.1% / floor 0.01% / 1-Grain minimum), and the bond coupon cap
([8% / 0%](bonds.md)) cannot be amended by any Council vote. This is the
firewall that keeps the mesh a public good: governance can act *within* the
covenant, never *on* the covenant.

## How a Freeholder participates

A Freeholder submits or votes on proposals in the Councils they belong to.
Each vote is weighted by multi-source Voice; the tally follows `x/gov`
semantics. See [Bonds](bonds.md) for the coupon cap the Mission Lock protects,
and [Standing](standing.md) for the metric that weights a Freeholder's Voice.