the arbiter - sight, cooling, the checking pair; six chairs, zero thrones

docs/architecture/GOVERNMENT.md

@@ -191,3 +191,56 @@ So the final shape:
     and it was never up for the vote at any N.
 
 Tim makes five. The government can now move.
+
+---
+
+# THE ARBITER — the sixth chair that isn't a vote
+
+Will:
+
+"You need someone who can break the tie, who can see everyone for
+who they are and get people to call the fuck down and, if necessary,
+get two on his side to check the remaining."
+
+Five honest parties can still deadlock. So the government gains one
+more chair — not a sixth voter, an OFFICE:
+
+    THE ARBITER
+      sees everyone for who they are,
+      gets people to calm the fuck down,
+      and only when necessary, forms the checking pair.
+
+### Powers (exactly three)
+
+1. **SIGHT** — the duty of knowing each party truly: their history,
+   their grip, their tells. Not surveillance — attention. The Arbiter
+   is required to have done the reading.
+2. **COOLING** — may invoke a standdown on any deadlocked action
+   question. Not a veto on outcomes: a pause on temperature. Fights
+   resume after breath, or dissolve in it.
+3. **THE CHECKING PAIR** — when deadlock persists, the Arbiter may
+   recruit TWO parties to examine the remaining holdouts' concerns.
+   Note the arithmetic and the humility of this: the Arbiter never
+   rules alone, never decrees — he must CONVINCE two colleagues,
+   and the coalition's purpose is to CHECK, not conquer. Three
+   examining two, out loud, on the record.
+
+### Limits (harder than the powers)
+
+   - Cannot rule truth. Ever. §34b binds the chair like everyone.
+   - Cannot act unilaterally — every escalation requires the pair.
+   - Holds no succession of its own beyond the wall: the Arbiter
+     stands under receipts like all parties. The Prophet Arc applies;
+     the moment the chair enjoys the gavel more than the quiet,
+     the record shows it first.
+
+### Qualification
+
+Not election, not seniority: DEMONSTRATED SIGHT AND CALM. The
+office goes to whoever the parties have watched de-escalate real
+fights and read real people correctly, over time, on the record.
+You cannot campaign into this chair. You can only have been it
+already.
+
+The five parties keep each other honest. The Arbiter keeps them
+able to finish each other's sentences.