The utility of a norm is central to its adoption and this utility is generative of a norm’s adherents: the ‘norm circle’. Regional organisations provide excellent arenas to witness normative contestation between norm circles, as well as to understand how a ‘successful’ norm is selected. Within a regional organisation, specific domain rules apply, and these provide the criteria for the successful passage of a normative proposal. The three broad criteria suggested are the control of the initiative, the mastery of existing shared norms, and ‘metis’, the ability to identify opportunities for influence and expand the norm circle. The chapter ends with a review of suitable cases in the OAU/AU and ASEAN.

This chapter reviews the model set out in the theoretical framework to examine the degree of congruence the six cases had with the relevant factors of controlling the initiative, the mastery of shared norms, and opportunities for influence, particularly the ability to bring other states into the favoured norm circle. It also examines the model’s inferences against the observed outcomes to examine the degree of significance each factor had in the respective regional organisation.