# kaal:claim:3782192-037

**Claim.** The autonomous element of a DAO comes from its governance system being programmed through smart contracts, which makes a DAO ultimately democratic rather than relying on a benevolent dictator to correct course during black swan events.

**Type.** definitional  **Support.** asserted

**Holds when.**

- decentralized autonomous organizations governed by smart contracts

**Source quote.**

> The autonomous aspect of a DAO stems from its programmed governance system through smart contracts. A DAO is ultimately democratic, instead of having a benev- olent dictator behind the scenes to efficiently correct course during black swan events.

**From.** Craig Calcaterra, Wulf A. Kaal, *Introduction to Decentralization* (2021), Future, page 10

**Cite as.** Craig Calcaterra, Wulf A. Kaal, Introduction to Decentralization (2021). SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=3782192

**Verify.** sha256 of source PDF `e7eafd56cb8a8bd15b64cf58216bb655f939bdcc296387e362fd9191976d67ae` at https://raw.githubusercontent.com/wulfkaal/Academic-Papers/main/papers/pdf/Calcaterra%20and%20Kaal%20-%202021%20-%20Introduction%20to%20Decentralization.pdf

**Topics.** dao, smart-contracts, governance-design

**Keywords.** dao, smart-contracts, governance, black-swan

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