Which term describes a colony under tight control of the mother country?

• A. Autonomy
• B. Sovereignty
• C. Decolonization
• D. Federalism

Answer: (B)

Sovereignty is about who has the highest power to govern a place. When a mother country holds sovereignty over a colony, that country has the ultimate authority to make laws, collect taxes, and decide how the colony is run. The colony itself doesn’t act as an independent political unit; its rules come from the mother country. That’s why a colony under tight control is described in terms of sovereignty—the external sovereign power is the one guiding and controlling it.

Autonomy would imply the colony has some self-rule, but with significant limits; this isn’t full control by the mother country. Decolonization is the process of gaining independence, which is the opposite situation. Federalism describes a division of power within a single country, not control of a colony by another country.