# High Latency Governance Ethereum governance is a delicate process that relies on rough social consensus of the community, core developers and EF researchers. Improvement proposals (EIPs) are the primary mechanism for proposing new features and communicating these proposed features with the Ethereum Community. ## EIP standardization process The EIP standardization process is a mechanism for proposing new features, for collecting community technical input on an issue, and for documenting the design decisions that have gone into Ethereum. ~EIP-5069 An EIP can be crafted following the EIP format (EIP-1). There are three types of EIPs, A Standard Track (core, networking, Interface & ERC), a Meta-EIP (process changes), and Informational EIPs (provides information or general guidelines). An EIP must meet certain minimum criteria. It must be a clear and complete description of the proposed enhancement. The enhancement must represent a net improvement. The proposed implementation, if applicable, must be solid and must not complicate the protocol unduly. ~ EIP-1 ## EIP Life-cycle ![](https://i.imgur.com/AQQTxNw.png) The first step is vetting your idea with the Ethereum community. Next, the EIP should be posted on ethereum-magicians for community feedback. Once the EIP is proposed and feedback is received, you must seek feedback from EIP editors, core developers, and other interested parties. Last call is set by an EIP reviewer for 14 days later. If the EIP calls for normative changes it will be kicked back to review if not it can be moved to final. If an EIP that sits in draft, review, or last call for more than 6 months is marked stagnant. Living EIPs like EIP-1 do not progress. Throughout the process of Draft→ Final, prototyping and testing may be done in collaboration with EL & CL client teams. Additional discussion and vetting will take place on EL (formerly ACD) & CL bi-monthly calls. If rough consensus can be found the EIP will be marked as CFI (considered for inclusion) for the next hardfork. This is not a guarantee the upgrade will ship. More testing from client teams will be done. In addition, priorities for EIP inclusion in the upcoming hardfork may change as more pressing upgrades may take precedence (see withdrawals & no EOF/4844). ## Advantages & existential risks The advantage to this approach is that only high conviction upgrades enter the protocol because ample time for deliberation and testing can cement social consensus. The downside to this approach is that upgrades take significant time because they require extensive client teams resources, co-ordination, and general community buy-in. There exists a graveyard of CFI EIPs that likely will never get implemented into the Ethereum protocol. In the long run client teams will be funded by private entities with specific preferences that may not overlap with the long-term health of Ethereum. This is an existential risk to Ethereum’s style of off-chain governance.