A CONCEPT PRIMER • INTERACTIVE EDITION

Authority is a graph.

Not a title. Not an org chart. A traceable path from an accepted ground to a particular act.

Follow the authority path
01 /

One act. A whole ancestry.

ILLUSTRATIVE PAYMENT FRAME · F₀
DERIVATION VIEW
ground act
origin act · delegates
creates
↳
Authority path Inherited restrictionSelect a node to inspect

A frame is the starting agreement. It supplies accepted ground holders and recognized practices. Some acts create authority; a recognizing act asserts a pre-existing position without becoming its origin.

§1.4 / §2
02 / THE EXECUTION GATE

Can Kai approve
this payment?

Change the facts. Watch the path survive, fail, or require a determination.

resolve(A, X, Y, C, T, F, R)

A = Kai · X = approve_payment
T = 20 Oct · F = F₀ · R = 22 Oct

P₂ is a separate, known-valid route for approved vendors up to $25,000. It is not derived from P₀.

AUTHORIZEDALLOW

    Inspect resolution evidence
    
    
    AUTHORIZEDAt least one valid path.
    DENIEDEvery path fails decidably.
    INDETERMINATEUnresolved. Deny & escalate.
    
  
    
  
    03 / THE VOCABULARY
    Four normative primitives.
    Two distinct companions.
    Positions are first-class records, not bare edges. Every position has an origin act; the chain of powers terminates at a ground accepted by the frame.
    
    
    
      
    A holder may, by act, produce effects of type E over scope S if conditions C hold. Delegation must preserve scope, time and allowed holders; conditions accumulate. Nondelegable is the default.
    
      
      
      
      
      
    
    
  
    
  
    04 / HOLDERS & COMPOSITION
    “Together” belongs
    to the holder.
    A power has one holder expression: an Agent, an Office, or a Composite. Concurrence is not another edge type.
    Also supported in the model: ANY, FRACTION of present / seated / eligible members, SEQUENCE, and UNLESS with an optional veto override. Windows and quorum matter.
    Composite(ALL, members)
    This isolates the composition check. It assumes valid member acts, capacities and timing; it is not a complete authorization result.
    
  
    05 / WHAT SURVIVES THE CHAIN
    Limits travel.
    Revocation cuts the path.
    A propagating LIMIT is collected across the entire ancestry. Delegation cannot wash it away.
    Ending a parent power ends its valid time. Descendants fail by derivation; they are not separately rewritten. An independent path may still support the action.
    Earlier acts retain their own valid-time evaluation, unless an explicitly retroactive act changes that history.
    GRANT ≠ RECALL
    Who can revoke?
    grantor
    Holder of the originating power, through the same procedure.
    none
    Entrenched. No recall authority under this rule.
    unspecified
    Recall attempt is INDETERMINATE.
    A named holder may also have revocation authority, subject to conditions. The kernel assumes no default.
    
  
    06 / TWO ORDERS
    Origin is not priority.
    A delegate can prevail over its delegator within a delegated scope. Derivation and precedence can point in opposite directions.
    Principal
    grants authority to
    Delegate
    Derivation asks where a power came from. Follow origin_act → exercises → power until an accepted ground.
    Precedence is established by a conditional LIMIT or a binding determination. Without either, a relevant unresolved conflict is INDETERMINATE. The engine does not silently pick a winner.
    
  
    07 / BITEMPORAL HISTORY
    One past.
    Two clocks.
    Valid time asks when authority was in force. Record time asks when the system learned or asserted it.
    A later ratification can change the current account of an earlier act. The old record-time view remains available.
    01 OCTRetroactive start03 OCTPayment act12 OCTRatification recorded
    Separate illustrative fixture: no known authority before ratification; a binding valid determination recorded 12 Oct recognizes the power from 1 Oct. The original execution evidence retains both T and R.
    
  
    THE RESOLUTION PATH
    Trace first. Then decide.
    1. CapacitiesValidate occupancy.
    2. PowersMatch effect & scope.
    3. PathsValidate every origin.
    4. LimitsRead the ancestry.
    5. ConditionsAccumulate predicates.
    6. CompositionCheck acts & quorum.
    7. DeterminationsApply binding findings.
    8. ResultAllow, deny, escalate.
    A binding determination overrides checks 3–6 for the element it addresses. Interpretation can enter from outside the engine; validity is not purely computable. CONTROL is never consulted.