ABSTRACT
American democracy is characterized by many contradictions and paradoxes. The United States is the richest country in the world, yet it also suffers from high rates of poverty, infant mortality, homicides, and economic inequality compared to other advanced democracies (Halstead 2003). Michael Harrington (1971) in his book The Other America pointed out the existence of two Americas. One is the affluent America that is the most visible and celebrated in speeches and advertised on television. The other America is invisible and is impoverished. It is made up of millions of people who are poor, dispirited in mind and body, and exist without adequate housing, education, and health care. Two decades after President Johnson declared war on poverty, poverty still persisted (Harrington 1983) and it continues to exist today.
