World Government Info.

The World Government is affiliated with roughly 170 countries from around the world, 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 like Dragon who are against it. They approve of Absolute Justice and reside in the holy land of Mariejois, ruled by the Gorousei, the highest authority of the world. They seem afraid of losing power and the World Government depends on the 3 Great Powers 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 the lives of those who are innocent, 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 reality though is that, unknown to most citizens (and many world leaders), the World Government's actions are secretly, and often, based on corruption or questionable motives. Often when the storyline involves them, it shows them hiding the truth or ignoring the rights of the people with many individuals using Justice to further their own aims. Individuals who become the enemies of the World Government are ruthlessly hunted down and dealt with and all those who walk along the same path as them are doomed to share the World Government's fury. Nico Robin in particular spent her entire life running from the World Government, and everyone who she fell in with soon betrayed her for the bounty on her head, or found themselves against the Marines and other government forces who were after Robin.

The World Government's power to release information on anyone as they please can often led to the truth being hidden, 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 often display though this is changing as more people are beginning to question whether what the World Government is doing is right. Sengoku recently witnessed the release of several level 6 criminals back into the world, only to be told by the World Government to cover the greater details up, since they did not want ordinary citizens to know that these potentially dangerous criminals were free to roam. This meant that the Marines could not issue the warrent for their arrests, leaving the Marines in a difficult position wherein the recapturing of the level 6 criminals means they cannot reissue bounties or release information related to these criminals.

Much of Government appears to be centered around paranoia, as they appear to divide power very carefully. However, this paranoia, though strong, can be bypassed, as seen when Spandam manipulated the Gorousei. Also, judging by what King Wapol said that changing the governing form of Drum Island would provoke the government, it would seem that there are very particular expectations that must be lived up to from governors or kings.

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 dubbed greater than their own.