These examples are meant to illustrate an extant shift from a state-centric to a multi-centric system of global governance and to show how governance arrangements writ large are currently in flux. Examining and understanding these emerging models – including where they come from and how they develop and change – is therefore important since their form and content are likely to influence the governance arrangements that persist into the future. To do this, a theory delineating how and why new governance arrangements emerge, why they come in varying forms, and what drives and constrains the changes they undergo once they are established is needed. Although a growing body of work is addressing these and related questions, in a number of ways (which I discuss below) my contribution will be unique.

Codes of conduct and private certification programs serve as the research focal point. For the remainder of this proposal, they are both considered private governance arrangements. They do, however, very markedly. They vary in what they regulate, how they regulate, how they originate and when, and what they hope to accomplish. This research will examine two facets of the variation: (1) a binary “emerge” – “not-emerge” variation, and (2) a configurational variation measured by what the programs seek to regulate, who is regulated, and who has a stake in governance decision-making. These will permit examining three theoretical questions: (1) where governance innovation comes from, (2) whether, and if yes, how do early decisions made by private governance programs and the ideas these different actions embody form paths constraining future decisions and (3) through what processes are governance innovations generalized across issue areas.