To sign or give formal consent to a treaty, contract, or agreement, making it officially valid is to what?

• A. Validate
• B. Endorse
• C. Ratify
• D. Approve

Answer: (C)

Ratification is the formal consent that makes a treaty or agreement legally binding. When a country signs a treaty, that shows intent, but the treaty only becomes official after the appropriate authorities formally ratify it—often involving a legislative approval and the head of state’s signature. That formal consent gives the treaty its binding force in international law. Endorsement is just public support, not a binding agreement; approval can be general consent or permission but doesn’t specifically denote the formal international ratification process; validation means making something legally valid in a broad sense, not the precise act that creates a treaty’s binding status.