In this introduction, I first present the general problematic of the special issue. Our world faces several existential challenges war, and global injustice) and some would argue that the only adequate answer to these challenges is setting up a world government. I then introduce the contributions that comprise the scholarly body of the special section: Abumere on legitimacy, Director on global public reason, Clark on world religion, Tännsjö on global despotism, Taiwo on nation states and basic structures, Erman on global democracy, Wündisch on climate justice. Lastly, I briefly describe the practical context in which the idea of the special section has arisen and in which the present contributions have taken shape.