Where International Rules Come From · seed 1 · A4, ink-friendly. The answer key prints on its own page for grown-ups.

Rules without a world police

Civics & Economics · Government · ages 16-18
Name ______________________   Date ____________

  1. Can a state leave a treaty it signed?

    • It must stay forever once signed
    • It can leave through withdrawal, then face the costs
    • It needs permission from every citizen

  2. How does a treaty become binding on a state?

    • By signing a treaty it chose to join
    • By order of a world government
    • By automatic birth into every pact

  3. The United Nations works as a world government that can force any state to obey.

    Circle one:   True   False

  4. Laws against dumping show international rules in action. What are they?

    • Shared trade rules countries join for predictable markets
    • A world tax office collecting from firms
    • A global police court jailing dumpers

  5. A country ignores an international ruling. What actually happens next?

    • A world court with its own army
    • Automatic fines taken from citizens
    • Lost trade, sanctions, and a damaged reputation

  6. Why do shared fish stocks collapse without enforced rules?

    • One fisher taking extra fish helps everyone
    • Sharing works only if all sides trust the rest to restrain themselves
    • Oceans refill no matter how much is taken

  7. Which case shows rules that are real but fragile?

    • Trade rules that members keep because exit would cost markets
    • A world government issuing orders to all
    • A promise with no cost for breaking it

  8. One pact cleans up dumping while another is quietly ignored. What explains the split?

    • Rules with strong backing change behaviour, while paper promises get ignored
    • Every signed paper changes behaviour equally
    • Powerful states always obey and weak ones never do
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Answer key

For grown-ups. Fold this page away before handing over the rest.

Rules without a world police W1-mt_prBdcYuLoY-s1

  1. It can leave through withdrawal, then face the costs · States join by choice and can walk away, but exit brings reputation and trade costs.
  2. By signing a treaty it chose to join · Treaties bind because a state signed them. No world government signs on its behalf.
  3. False · The United Nations hosts talks but cannot act as a world police force.
  4. Shared trade rules countries join for predictable markets · Antidumping laws and trade pacts work because members value fair predictable trade over freedom to cheat.
  5. Lost trade, sanctions, and a damaged reputation · Without a world police, costs like sanctions and lost trust are what give rules teeth.
  6. Sharing works only if all sides trust the rest to restrain themselves · All gain from restraint, yet each is tempted to grab more, so the shared stock collapses.
  7. Trade rules that members keep because exit would cost markets · Real but fragile means voluntary rules with genuine costs, stronger than nothing and weaker than domestic law.
  8. Powerful states always obey and weak ones never do · A rule holds when breaking it costs more than keeping it, through power, trade, or trust.
Worksheet · LightMySky