ABSTRACT
Regional Intergovernmental Organizations (RIGOs) are first and foremost the product of the practice of state and local governments. In so differentiating a RIGO from an Intergovernmental Organizations (IGOs), we are establishing that a RIGO has a different role to play in the region from the role played by an IGO. The RIGO represents the interests of the region as a whole and the IGO represents the interests of an important part of that region. The actual process of determining which organizations were RIGOs was tedious. A visual representation showing how much of America is included within the boundaries of RIGOs was mentioned. The formal names of RIGOs offer a significant insight into the decentralized paths that have been taken in the formation of RIGOs. As historical context, RIGO formation is neither a new phenomenon nor one that occurred over an extended period of time.
