User blog comment:Blackendedsoul/Yonkou and the Admirals/@comment-3181121-20110724181523/@comment-3242083-20110724183949

I always had the impression that the point of having the Shichibukai was the fact that if they are on your side, they can't be against you.

Basically a bribe into neutrality, I wouldn't count them as a force of the government, especially not after their passive behavior during the war.