Object to poor government (5)
I believe the answer is:
thing
'object' is the definition.
(thing is a kind of object)
'poor government' is the wordplay.
'poor' becomes 'thin' (I've seen this in other clues).
'government' becomes 'g'.
'thin'+'g'='THING'
'to' acts as a link.
(Other definitions for thing that I've seen before include "Object; gadget" , "A creature" , "Object, artefact" , "Inanimate object" , "Individual unit" .)