Governance Charter
The foundational document (or system) that defines an organisation's governance structure — including decision rights, authority boundaries, and core commitments.
A governance charter is the foundational governance artifact. Traditionally, it's a document that outlines:
- The organisation's governance philosophy and principles - Board composition, roles, and responsibilities - Committee structures and mandates - Decision-making processes - Authority boundaries and delegation - Reporting and accountability mechanisms
The limitation of a charter as a document is that it's static. It describes intended governance but doesn't enforce it. The charter might say "all expenditures over $10,000 require CFO approval," but nothing structurally prevents someone from making an unauthorised expenditure.
A live governance charter transforms the document into infrastructure — the rules described in the charter are structurally enforced at the moment of action.
How Constellation handles this
Constellation's Charter layer is a live governance charter. Decisions, commitments, and constraints are not just documented — they're active infrastructure that's evaluated at the moment of action.