#Ratification

Ratification is the ceremony in which a state reverently stamps a document and celebrates that nothing changes behind the existing power structures. It gives the final flesh to treaties agreed only by words and confers the authority of “official” upon clauses that no one wants to take responsibility for. Often, the approval process itself becomes the goal rather than genuine implementation, and politicians reaffirm their own purpose as they sign scraps of paper to thunderous applause. True consensus is struck in secrecy behind the scenes, and few things are as untrustworthy as a ratified treaty.