Ferengi Alliance
The Ferengi Alliance is the formal name for the Ferengi government, whose seat of power is on the homeworld Ferenginar. The government of the Ferengi Alliance is dedicated to the promotion of Ferengi profit and commerce. It is overseen by the Grand Nagus, whose seat of power is in the Tower of Commerce on Ferenginar. The Nagus' power is supported by both the Ferengi Bill of Opportunities and Ferengi Rules of Acquisition.
Agencies and institutions
Despite a strong spirit of laissez-faire regarding commerce, the Alliance maintains numerous agencies to regulate Ferengi business and trade. Though ostensibly created to oversee Ferengi business practices and ensure adherence to regulation, these agencies appear to be constructed as much to create opportunities for graft, bribery and corruption as any legitimate purpose.
The Ferengi Commerce Authority or FCA is an agency of the Alliance concerned with business practices and the enforcement of trade under Ferengi Trade By-Laws and Codes. Agents of the FCA are known as Liquidators, led by the Board of Liquidators, all of whose offices are located on the 40th floor of the Tower of Commerce in the Sacred Marketplace on Ferenginar.
While the FCA primarily regulates business dealings among Ferengi, the Ferengi Trade Mission furthers Ferengi governmental business interests with other species.
The Ferengi Health Commission oversees health regulations in Ferengi businesses and public life and has the ability to revoke a Ferengi's trade license.
The Ferengi Gaming Commission regulates all gambling ventures within the Alliance.
Politics
Domestically, advancement in Ferengi government is based on bribery and patronage. A Ferengi who aspires to a higher position in any government agency, in particular the FCA, is expected to earn a large profit not just for himself but for his superiors. Even seeking an audience with a senior government official requires a donation of latinum.
Generally, the Ferengi Alliance stays neutral in the politics of the galaxy, since the Ferengi are solely interested in profit and making enemies diminishes business opportunities. In the spirit of free enterprise, most Ferengi business ventures are made without the knowledge of the government. As a result, while a number of hostile conflicts occurred between the Federation and the Ferengi in the 2360s, the Ferengi Alliance itself was not held responsible.
The Ferengi Alliance maintained official neutrality during the Dominion War, though it believed its natural business interests to lie with the Alpha Quadrant powers. Similarly, during the Occupation of Bajor the Ferengi took no sides and traded equally with the Cardassians and Bajorans.
The official practice of neutrality, however, did not guarantee the Alliance favorable relations with all races. The Klingons are known to despise Ferengi in almost all circumstances, despite no history of bad relations between the two governments. And Vulcans, considered an evolved species, have proven sufficiently difficult for the Ferengi to maintain smooth relations with that a warning for dealing with them is codified in the Rules of Acquisition.
Even as a neutral power, the economic might of the Ferengi Alliance gives them significant influence in the galaxy.
Military
The Ferengi Alliance maintains a military, which consists mostly of D'kora class marauder craft. The military is used to protect the business ventures of various Ferengi entrepreneurs, not to wage war. A Marauder is usually commanded by a Daimon who is authorized to open new trade negotiations on behalf of the Alliance.
The Battle of Prexnak, between the Ferengi and Lytasians, is the only military engagement ever made by the Alliance and is the most important battle in Ferengi history. A similar operation was undertaken in 2374 between the Ferengi and Dominion, the only "encounter" the two powers had during the Dominion War.