World Government

The World Government is a political organization comprised of the majority, if not the entirety of the world at large, ruled by the Gorosei. The Marines serve as their primary military organization, headed by the Fleet Admiral, while the Cipher Pol operate behind the scenes, either through sabotage, reconnaissance, spying, espionage and/or assassination; their most powerful enemies are largely Pirates and revolutionaries. The Commander-in-Chief oversees both the Marines and Cipher Pol as well as the Shichibukai, at least officially, and is second only to the Gorosei. Impel Down serves as the World Government's maximum-security prison. Collectively serving as the most prominent antagonists in the series, the World Government is largely portrayed as a corrupt entity, particularly through their absolute justice doctrine.

About the World Government
The World Government is affiliated with a good number of countries and civilizations that run throughout the world of Hedgehog Piece. Those member countries retain autonomy, that is to say, the countries run their own internal affairs (though the World Government does sometimes meddle), but cooperate with the World Government for massive international relations. Their political ideals are unknown and everything they do is considered to be right. Not everyone approves of their political ideals, as there are people who are against it. They approve of Absolute Justice, saying that all individuals noted to have done illegal activities or criminal acts are reported to Marine HQ and issued bounties, based on the known information about their threat level - regardless of the circumstances and anyone connected to criminals, no matter who they are, can be arrested even if they have not done anything. The World Government resides in the holy land of Mariejois, ruled by the Gorosei, the highest authority of the world. They seem to be afraid of losing power and the World Government depends on the Three Great Powers, The Marines, Shichibukai and Yonko, to keep the world from falling apart.

At first glance, the World Government seems to maintain a worldly order that benefits all, making the world safe for the sake of everyone. Using the Marines, they pursue criminals, endangering their own lives for those who are innocent and protecting the people of each country in the world. The World Government is the largest World Power maintaining full rights to halt or encourage any political action without question or opposition from any side.

The World Government's power to release information on anyone as they please can often lead to the truth being suppressed, altered or ignored all together. Any countries attempting to protect or harbor criminals are at risk from the World Government, although what would happen exactly has not been addressed yet. For the most part, the important role they have in maintaining world stability far outweighs the corruption they are believed to have by many and this is beginning to have more people question whether what the World Government is doing is right. They allied themselves with seven powerful pirates in exchange for pardoning their past crimes, but allowed them to continue committing crimes (though still to a certain extent) in order to maintain power and status. Much of the World Government appears to be centered around paranoia, as they appear to divide power very carefully. However, this paranoia, though strong, can be bypassed.

The World Government can be described as totalitarian to a certain extent, as they often will make excessive efforts to ensure that they remain in power, including the elimination of any source of power that could be perceived as greater than their own.

Culture
The World Government have a religious and holy theme. Mariejois was called the 'Holy Land', the place where the Gorosei resides was called The Sanctuary and the World Nobles have the word "Saint" in front of their names. Impel Down appears to be based on the Hell in Dante's  Divine Comedy.

History of the World Government
Much about the history of the World Government is unknown in the story of Hedgehog Piece, to the extent where no one has even talked about or has been revealed talking about how the World Government came to be, How they formed The Marines, How they formed Cipher Pol, etc.

Government Affiliates
All over the world, there are many countries and civilization that are affiliates of the World Government. Within their own territory all these members have their own sovereign government that rules over its people. However, in the large World Government itself, those leaders are treated as equals and each have a seat within it.

Among these member countries and civilizations, not all are of the same kind. Some are large countries with kings as their leaders, while others are simply big cities that are governed by mayors.

Kingdoms
No Kingdoms or Cities run by the World Government have been revealed as of yet.

The Three Great Powers
The Three Great Powers (三大勢力), composed of The Marines, the Shichibukai, and the Yonko, are the three greatest military forces on the oceans and their relations are very vital to the World Government. The three powers exist in a delicate balance of power, not all the details of which are known. It is however known that only the other two organizations are equivalent to the Yonko. Considering that these organizations are stated to be a balance, it is likely they are approximately equivalent in strength. The Yonko and Marines seem to be on different ends of the spectrum, with the Marines being more orderly compared to the Yonko which are very chaotic, with the Shichibukai acting as somewhere in between.

The Gorosei fears that if this balance gets disrupted, the world itself could descend into anarchy, and the balance itself appears to be very fragile as the loss of even one key member (such as a Shichibukai) can disrupt the balance. This is why at the defeat of a powerful ally, like if one of the Shichibukai resign, it disturbs the balance of power and order because it tips the balance away from the Shichibukai and in turn the Marines. This leaves them with diminished force to counter the menace of the Yonko and allows the general populace to question their power and authority. Another concern is that the Marines are the sole organization completely under the supremacy of the World Government. The Shichibukai often follow orders on a whim, if at all, and the Yonko are entirely outside of the World Government's control.