According to Thoreau, “government is at best, but an expedient.” What does Thoreau mean by the word “expedient”? Provide at least two...

In "Civil Disobedience," Thoreau says that "[g]overnment is at best but an expedient" to make the point the systems of government are only present as a convenience and not as a true body by which to achieve justice for the people.  The word "expedient" is defined as a practical convenience, which may have immoral or improper elements, so Thoreau uses this word to characterize systems of government, particularly the American government.  For example, Thoreau says that the system of voting and going with "majority rule" is a convenient (or expedient) manner to choose elected officials; however, since in this system significant numbers of citizens are not represented by such elected officials, the system really cannot be defined as a democracy because the officials do not represent the voice of "the people"--they only represent the "majority."  The present day electoral system is not much different, theoretically speaking:  candidates are elected based on a "majority rule" system, leaving many voices unrepresented.  In this case, Thoreau argues that "[i]ts [the government's] obligation, therefore, never exceeds that of expediency."