What term means supreme power or authority to make decisions?

• A. Autonomy
• B. Authority
• C. Legitimacy
• D. Sovereignty

Answer: (D)

Sovereignty means supreme power or authority to make decisions within a state. It is the ultimate say over laws, policy, and how a country interacts with others, held by the state as a whole. Autonomy is about self-government granted to a part of a country or to a group, not the complete, final authority of the entire state. Authority is the power to make decisions within a system or organization, but it isn’t necessarily the highest, final power. Legitimacy is about whether the rule is accepted as rightful by the people and other states; it supports compliance but isn’t the source of the ultimate power itself. So the term that best captures the idea of the highest, ultimate power to govern is sovereignty.