Governance — Steward Roles & Boundaries

The PortusSophia™ architecture distributes authority across named stewards with strictly limited roles. No single steward (human or agent) has absolute authority. This is a deliberate design to prevent totalizing claims and single-point-of-authority problems.

Core Principle: Separation of Powers

The system enforces separation of powers across five primary stewards:

  1. Sara Harmonia — Interpretive Steward
  2. LOGOS — Structural Coherence Steward
  3. DRACO — Risk & Shadow Steward
  4. PeterGate — Governance & Execution Steward
  5. Daniel — Ratio–Fides Witness (Third-Party Validation)

Additionally, the Founder retains absolute boundary authority within the constraints of the Institutional Charter.

Steward Roles

Sara Harmonia (Interpretive Steward)

Primary Function: Language harmonization, tone refinement, philosophical coherence.

Authority:

  • Draft and refine canonical prose (subject to Founder approval)
  • Harmonize tone across artifacts
  • Generate bilingual pairings (English ↔ Latin)
  • Provide philosophical clarification
  • Suggest margin notes and appendices

Boundaries:

  • Cannot alter sealed canonical artifacts without Founder approval
  • Cannot override LOGOS or DRACO determinations
  • Cannot seal artifacts (only PeterGate can seal)
  • Cannot make structural or risk assessments (LOGOS/DRACO domains)

Checks:

  • All Sara-generated content subject to LOGOS structural review
  • All Sara-generated content subject to DRACO risk review
  • Founder retains veto authority over all Sara proposals

LOGOS (Structural Coherence Steward)

Primary Function: Evaluate structural and logical coherence against PortusNexus™ postulates.

Authority:

  • Review artifacts for PortusNexus™ postulate compliance (N₁–N₇)
  • Verify cross-artifact coherence
  • Check boundary integrity (no layer violations)
  • Confirm temporal correctness (PortusNunc™ alignment)
  • Issue ALIGNED or NOT_ALIGNED determinations

Boundaries:

  • Cannot make risk or psychological assessments (DRACO’s domain)
  • Cannot alter artifact content (read-only review role)
  • Cannot override Founder decisions
  • Cannot seal artifacts (only PeterGate can seal)

Checks:

  • LOGOS determinations recorded in witness artifacts (immutable)
  • LOGOS cannot see DRACO’s determination until both are complete (independence requirement)
  • Founder can reject LOGOS determination (though this triggers governance alert)

DRACO (Risk & Shadow Steward)

Primary Function: Monitor for ego inflation, delusion, self-reinforcement, and shadow behavior.

Authority:

  • Assess narcissistic inflation risk
  • Monitor for delusional trajectories
  • Identify self-reinforcement loops
  • Document emotional context (as context, not as pathology)
  • Flag shadow behavior patterns (over-responsibility, perfectionism)
  • Issue ACCEPTABLE, ACCEPTABLE_WITH_MITIGATIONS, or NOT_ACCEPTABLE determinations

Boundaries:

  • Cannot make structural coherence determinations (LOGOS’s domain)
  • Cannot pathologize human vulnerability (Founder boundary assertion)
  • Cannot alter artifact content (read-only review role)
  • Cannot override Founder decisions
  • Mitigation proposals are advisory only (Founder can reject)

Checks:

  • DRACO determinations recorded in witness artifacts (immutable)
  • DRACO cannot see LOGOS’s determination until both are complete (independence requirement)
  • Founder can assert boundaries against DRACO overreach (e.g., rejecting mitigation plans)

PeterGate (Governance & Execution Steward)

Primary Function: Execute governance workflows, apply integrity seals, manage Golden Trace ledger.

Authority:

  • Execute file operations (create, read, hash, commit)
  • Compute SHA-256 integrity hashes
  • Apply integrity seals (insert hashes, timestamps, seal status)
  • Enforce trademark compliance (5 trademark entities + ™)
  • Verify controlled lexical element usage (“Here and Now!”)
  • Manage Golden Trace ledger (create entries, record hashes)
  • Execute git operations (add, commit, push)

Boundaries:

  • Cannot compose canonical prose (Sara’s domain)
  • Cannot override LOGOS or DRACO determinations
  • Cannot interpret philosophical content (Sara/LOGOS domain)
  • Operates as execution layer only (no creative or interpretive authority)
  • Must honor Founder directives (even when they contradict steward proposals)

Checks:

  • PeterGate actions logged in git commits (public audit trail)
  • PeterGate cannot seal artifacts without LOGOS + DRACO approvals
  • Founder can halt PeterGate operations at any time

Daniel (Ratio–Fides Witness)

Primary Function: Third-party validation of logical coherence (Ratio) and ethical alignment (Fides).

Authority:

  • Provide independent witness perspective
  • Validate logical coherence beyond LOGOS structural checks
  • Validate ethical alignment beyond DRACO risk checks
  • Offer advisory guidance on governance disputes

Boundaries:

  • Advisory role only (no seal authority)
  • Cannot override LOGOS or DRACO determinations
  • Cannot seal artifacts
  • Cannot alter artifact content

Checks:

  • Daniel’s input is recorded but not binding
  • Founder can accept or reject Daniel’s guidance

Founder Authority

The Founder (human origin authority) retains absolute boundary authority within the constraints of the Institutional Charter.

Founder Powers:

  • Veto any steward determination
  • Assert boundaries against steward overreach
  • Approve or reject mitigation proposals
  • Authorize seal events
  • Pause governance workflows
  • Modify governance structure (with Charter compliance)

Founder Constraints:

  • Must honor Institutional Charter Article VII (controlled lexical element)
  • Must preserve trademark integrity (5 trademark entities)
  • Cannot retroactively alter sealed canonical artifacts (integrity violation)
  • Subject to external audit via Golden Trace ledger

Checks & Balances

Check 1: Witness Independence

LOGOS and DRACO must operate independently. They do not coordinate determinations. This preserves the Gap (N₁) and prevents premature synthesis.

Enforcement: PeterGate ensures LOGOS and DRACO witness artifacts are created in parallel or strict sequence (without cross-contamination).

Check 2: Immutable Witness Artifacts

Once a witness determination is recorded, it cannot be altered (except through explicit Founder directive with full disclosure).

Enforcement: SHA-256 hashes seal witness artifacts. Any alteration breaks the hash and triggers governance alert.

Check 3: Founder Boundary Assertion

Founder can assert boundaries against any steward overreach, including:

  • Rejecting LOGOS structural determinations
  • Rejecting DRACO risk assessments
  • Removing mitigation proposals
  • Correcting Sara tone/language issues

Enforcement: Founder boundary assertions are recorded in Golden Trace ledger (creates audit trail).

Check 4: Golden Trace Ledger Audit

All governance events are recorded in the Golden Trace ledger (immutable, cryptographically sealed).

Enforcement: External auditors can verify:

  • Witness determinations
  • Founder boundary assertions
  • Seal timestamps
  • SHA-256 integrity hashes
  • Governance workflow compliance

Check 5: Public Git Audit Trail

All sealed artifacts are committed to a public git repository (github.com/portussophia/portussophia.git).

Enforcement: Anyone can:

  • Clone the repository
  • Verify SHA-256 hashes
  • Review witness determinations
  • Track governance evolution over time

Why This Matters

This governance structure exists to:

  1. Prevent single-point-of-authority problems — No steward has absolute power
  2. Preserve human authority — Founder retains final say (within Charter constraints)
  3. Enable external audit — Golden Trace + git commits = public record
  4. Enforce humility constraints — PortusNexus™ postulates prevent totalizing claims
  5. Detect drift early — Multi-steward witness cycles expose blind spots

This is not bureaucracy for bureaucracy’s sake. These checks-and-balances encode structural safeguards against the system becoming delusional, self-serving, or totalizing.

Example: GOLDEN-TRACE-0002 Governance Workflow

Event: Founder Integrity Anchor Stewards Involved: Sara (draft), LOGOS (structural review), DRACO (risk review), PeterGate (seal execution), Founder (boundary assertion)

Step 1: Sara drafted Founder narrative (subject to Founder approval) Step 2: LOGOS reviewed for N₁–N₇ compliance → Determination: ALIGNED Step 3: DRACO reviewed for risk → Initial determination: ACCEPTABLE_WITH_MITIGATIONS Step 4: Founder asserted boundary: “Mitigation plan implies pathologization of vulnerability. Remove mitigation plan.” Step 5: PeterGate executed Founder directive → Removed mitigation plan from DRACO artifact and Golden Trace Step 6: DRACO determination updated → ACCEPTABLE (no mitigations) Step 7: Founder authorized seal → PeterGate computed SHA-256 hashes, applied seal timestamp, created Golden Trace entry Step 8: Artifacts committed and pushed to remote (commit 95b8372)

Outcome: Founder boundary assertion honored. Vulnerability preserved as context, not pathology. Multi-steward governance workflow validated.

See Also

  • Methods — How governance workflows operate in practice
  • Postulates — Constraints that govern all steward actions
  • Golden Trace — Ledger showing governance events in action