Beyond Westphalia: Competitive Legalization in Emerging Transnational Regulatory Systems

Abstract:     
This paper analyzes several emerging transnational regulatory systems that engage, but are not centered on state legal systems. Driven primarily by civil society organizations, the new regulatory systems use conventional technical standard setting and certification techniques to establish market-leveraged, social and environmental regulatory programs. Individual sectors generally have multiple regulatory programs that compete with, but also mimic and reinforce each other. While forestry is the most developed example, similar patterns are evident in agriculture, fisheries, apparel, and mining, among other sectors.

The paper describes the institutional structures and routines of the new regulatory systems, their interactions with state based systems, and some possible broader implications for law and society. Among other things, it notes that the emerging regulatory systems permeate their sectors with increasingly broad and deep rule systems and seek to remain highly dynamic at the same time. The paper closes with a brief discussion of whether the systems might be sketching the outlines of new forms of transnational democracy.

Number of Pages in PDF File: 31

Keywords: apparel, certification, democracy, environmental law, environmental management, fisheries, forestry, human rights, international law, legalization, legal pluralism, mining, organic agriculture, participation, polyarchy, regulation, standardization, sustainable development, transparency

JEL Classification: K20, K32, K40, L50, M30, M40, N40, O38

working papers series