The essay addresses both the question of poverty and the scope of political science. The study of poverty demands a transeconomic approach because the act of making an economic choice is fundamentally political, but the act is likely to be ambiguous and that ambiguity is peculiarly revealed in the politics of poor relief. While the idea of…

In the 1980s California poverty rates increased dramatically. Poverty rates were substantially higher in rural areas and for Hispanics, Asians, single-parent families, and children. The percentage of the labor force in poverty increased, and poverty rates were exceptionally high for the unemployed and for "discouraged workers." The…