These terms describe different aspects of a governance innovation.

• A feature is a specific aspect of an institution or organization. Both models and mechanisms can be types of features.
• A model is a high-level framework for the design of an institution, such as a legal agreement or an intergovernmental organization (IGO).
• A mechanism is the specific “how”—the modality through which a feature works. For instance, a “multilateral mechanism” refers to a specific mode of governance that involves states.

The GGI Platform focuses on models and mechanisms, but explicitly not on practices, which are the routine behaviors and repetitive actions of people (Adler & Pouliot 2011).